East of downtown, along the Los Angeles River, brick warehouses that once served industry now hold the Arts District, one of the most vibrant arts communities in America. The Arts District developed along the east bank of the Los Angeles River, in the brick warehouse buildings that served the industrial economy of the early twentieth century: cold storage facilities, produce distributors, printing plants. As manufacturing declined, the large, cheap spaces attracted artists in the 1970s and 80s who needed room to work.
Galleries, studios, and live-work lofts followed. By the 2000s the neighborhood had become a destination, and by the 2010s rising rents were displacing many of the artists who had created its identity — a pattern familiar from Brooklyn, the Mission District, and every other creative neighborhood absorbed by real estate capital. The murals, the coffee roasters, the small-batch distilleries, the restaurants, and the remaining galleries give the district its character today.
Walk along Traction Avenue and Mateo Street and look at the buildings: the brick and steel and loading docks of the industrial city survive beneath the new restaurants and boutiques.