Street people and loft residents have joined forces to block removal of the name "Skid Row" from the sides of firetrucks and rescue ambulances that are assigned to the beleaguered downtown zone.
Firefighters and paramedics - as well as some residents - said the skid row label helps instill a feeling of community in a district struggling with homelessness and crime.
But top fire officials say they've received complaints that the name is derogatory and ordered "Skid Row" stripped from Station 9's two fire engines, its hook-and-ladder truck and its two paramedic ambulances.
"If it's offending people, we don't want to be doing it," said Battalion Chief Lou Roupoli, adding that residents of the new condominiums and lofts popping up in the area have complained that the fire engine label is objectionable.
Some of the developers who have been converting old bank buildings into luxury lofts on the edges of skid row have increasingly been using the less-gritty name "Central City East" to describe the district.
To the firefighters at Station 9, the skid row name is more than just a way of identifying the neighborhood they serve. They take pride working at what is considered the toughest assignment in the Los Angeles Fire Department, where the station can respond to more than 60 calls a day. Off-duty firefighters also wear T-shirts printed with the slogan "Wino Nino Firehouse Skid Row."
I feel for those guys and the local residents. Pretty much the same thing happened in my town - the rich folks moved in and everything turned to shit.
It's a fun article with pictures and graphics. Go read.
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