Rudy Espinoza, Senior Program Officer, Local Economic Development Initiatives of Community Financial Resource Center.

CFRC is a financial resource for building business and community together.

Late into the night along Slauson Avenue, on a corner that could easily feel unsafe, a single food truck has repurposed the urban space. With lights and food, the parking lot is transformed — bringing in revenue, but also conversation and quite likely reducing crime. Rudy of CFRC positions this democratic space at the intersection of community economic development, reenvisioning public space, and increasing opportunity for historically underserved residents.

Rudy, who has worked in South LA for a year and half, and in other Los Angeles neighborhoods for eight years, believes the corner near Slauson and Broadway is curiously democratic because “the space is repurposed at night by local entrepreneurs — not only making the street alive and vibrant, but making it safer. They are ‘eyes on the street’.”

Durante las horas de la noche, un lote de estacionamiento en la Avenida Slauson es transformado en un área comercial donde no solamente se vende comida, pero también se fomenta un sentido de comunidad, creando oportunidades para residentes que han sido historicamente marginados.

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