Norma Chavez
Visiting the community of Silver Lake, one can never imagine the devastating changes that its urban development is carrying along. This quiet neighborhood recalled as an idyllic place to live has been encountered by several social problems that endanger its peaceful life style. Some of the most notorious aspects are vandalism, littering, misuse of public space, as well as the setting of adult entertainment businesses.
Silver Lake is a community located between Echo Park and Atwater Village. They are all found north of Los Angeles Downtown. The social growth of the three areas affects them all at the same time. The people living in these neighborhoods travel from one area to the other bringing drastic changes to Silver Lake, a community that has worked hard to preserve a bucolic atmosphere. It is a mixed neighborhood, the environmental structure reflects the diversity of its residents. There you find Spanish-style homes on narrow streets with Scottish names sitting side by side with wooden A-frames and shiny edifices designed by famous architects such as Richard Neutra. We can also find homes that look like stucco boxes incomparably designed and planned. The heart of Silver Lake's character is the reservoir built in 1906 to provide water for the city's domestic use. Besides supplying water, the Lake's perimeter is a favorite recreational site for joggers, bicyclists, walkers and canine enthusiasts. Due to the lake, various animals like raccoons, skunks and coyotes wander around giving this neighborhood a rustic environment.
Silver Lake used to be an pleasant community; however, the on-going technological advances and construction development question the peace of its neighbors. The misuse of a public playground, the construction of a so called gentlemen's club and an adult shop are some of the main concerns the residents have.
The public playground is located at one of the corners of the Silver Lake reservoir on Silver Lake Boulevard. It provides swings and slides for children as well as a big sand box. It also has a large basketball court. Many families used to take their children there to play. One could see people with their youngsters at any time of the day, but nowadays people leave the park at very early hours because what used to be a safe basketball court became a place for vandalism. All of a sudden, men with bad habits appropriated the court from very early in the morning to very late at night. The gathering of several members helps them to protect each other from suspicion from police watching the area. What may seem to be a normal game in fact is hiding the illicit consumption of alcoholic beverages and strong drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. In addition to their drugs, it is very annoying that no one else can use the court because they are playing all the time. If someone tries to use the court, they start playing in a dangerous manner so that the other people fear getting hurt and end up leaving the park. Even though the police is watching the area, they do not leave any doubt that they are enjoying a good game and nothing else.
In a 1996 research a major complaint was the construction of a gentlemen's club and an adult shop. The club is located near the intersection of Riverside and Fletcher Drive, and the shop lays near that of Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road. Although both places are found in the vicinity of Atwater Village, they are affecting our community. The people I interviewed were disappointed because they felt that it was inappropriate to have this type of place near Allesandro Elementary School on Riverside Drive and Ervin Middle School on Fletcher Drive, a few blocks away from the adult businesses, when in fact we do not even have a library in the Silver Lake district. Besides providing children with a pornographic site, the club has brought lowlife to our community, elevating the crime rate and vandalism. Passerby who do not take pride on our property come to destroy it. They write on private property walls and litter. To make matters worse, many of the `people frequenting the club develop an escapist mentality' that does not allow them to think or behave properly (Donald Martinez, 1996).
Also, one of Silver Lake neighbors' main concerns has been the land misuse of the Hathaway estate. This vast land could be used for the construction of some family type recreational center. However, it is my understanding that instead this land has been used to build a private housing zone where no one can go through without giving personal identification to the guards and submitting the name of the people one is going to see. This housing development is surrounded by a fence, it is guarded day and night. Some people feel uncomfortable with the separation of the social strata; rich people live in the hills and the poor are in the flatter land.
Other problems that the community of Silver Lake is facing with the growth of population are vandalism and littering. The graffiti is mostly done by people who do not live in this area and we can see this by what they leave written on the walls. For example, Barrio of Echo Park. Owners of these properties are constantly painting their walls. With regards to littering, I cannot specifically say who does it because I know that everybody is responsible for that. Most garbage can be found at the bus stops where there are no trash cans available. I am assuming that people just throw papers and food left overs on the floor as they find no place to put it when the bus line arrives. Some of the best examples I can use as to where more droppings are collected (Perhaps by the wind) are empty lots such as the one at the corner of Silver Lake and Glendale Boulevard. It seems that one of the main reasons some people do not care about how their neighborhood looks is because most of them are tenants who do not take good care of their residence thinking that since it is not their property why should they waste their time repairing it.
The adult businesses was the main issue people focused on as I questioned them about their neighborhood. They wanted to know how business' owners near the men's club and the adult shop. feel about them. Have those places brought more clients to their facilities? There are many businesses, attended mostly by families, surrounding the adult shop; therefore, many of us wonder what are the parents' response to children when they ask to go to that Le Sex Shoppe store in front of K-Mart? If they explain to them exactly what that store is or they simply avoid the subject? Have the club and the shop increased the criminal activity? How do the parents of the children attending Allesandro Elementary School feel about their children's passing by this type of club? Is it safe to be around this area? How did City Hall react to the idea of building the sex club? How easily City Hall allow the construction of the club near a school? Someone mentioned that he had never heard that this place was going to be built, but all of the sudden it just popped up there. We need to know if there are any type of organizations working to dismantle adult entertainment businesses. If there are any we need to know where they get their funding from and how it is administered. We need information on who are the members of this association and what interests brought them to become members of the organization. Some possible answer could be that they are the elite people of this community working for some political purpose. One thing not very clear to me is whether low income residents belong to any group concerned with community matters and if they are part of the decision-making procedure. I am assuming that low income residents are not involved with this organization if they have to pay any fees because it is possible that paying any amount of money means a lot to them. Also, it is possible that when neighbors find that they have to pay, they become discouraged if they cannot afford the membership. Once they focus on a problem, what is their immediate reaction? How often do they get together and where do they gather? Is it an effective way of changing things by founding neighbor organizations in other communities? What are they doing to avoid graffiti? If the city does not provide the community with the appropriate equipment to maintain our area clean do they supply it? Are they doing anything to dismantle the adults' club and shop?
Strip clubs and adult entertainment endangering the morals of the Silver Lake community was a strong statement used by some of the neighbors. What are our children learning on the way to school? Some of the main concerns of residents in the neighborhood are opposition to adult entertainment.
What in the beginning of the study of the Silver Lake neighborhood seemed to be a major problem has come to be a very strong support for the first amendment of the Constitution. During an interview, an elementary school professor stated that if there was anything he could change within the community, he would be to tear down the strip club located near the intersection of Fletcher Drive and Riverside Drive. Donald strongly believes that having access to these type of places develops an escapist mentality among those attending allowing them not to act properly. He argued that the strip club has jeopardized the morals of the community. Many people who live in the area would like to close the club for the sake of the children. He claims that the adult shop and the strip club have greatly affected the crime rate of the community. He said that many parents opposed the services provided at the club mainly because it offered a pornographic site for children and young adults who transit the area on the way to Ervin king Middle School and Allesandro Elementary School. However; through the different interviews performed, we can see that opposition is not as great as most people think it is.
Michael Smith, a resident in Silver Lake for ten years, strongly states that trying to close down these type of businesses will only violate our right of freedom of speech protected by the Constitution. People are entitled to open any type of businesses as long as they follow the regulations set up by the government. In fact, the reason they remain open is because people support them. Strip clubs and adult shops are just businesses like any other type; they create jobs and pay taxes which actually go to finance education. I think that most people opposing them are people religiously involved who want to legislate morality. They are looking for scapegoats to blame problems on. Having clubs near a school has nothing to do with the morality of the people or the education children receive. First of all, children are not allowed to go into these places. If children pass by and wonder what those places are, it is the parents responsibility to explain to them what these places are and to clarify to them that they are only for adults. In order for us to say that those attending the club develop an escapist mentality, we must have a Ph.D. in Psychology. Most men use these places as entertainment only and we cannot say that they misbehave due to the alcohol they consume because the club does not sell or allow liquor. It also regulates that the women working there are never touched by the visitors and vice versa. When the women working there come out of the club's premises, they are dressed up like ordinary residents making it difficult to identify them as strippers. Men are not perpetrating any immoralities by going there to watch the girls dance naked because it is an individual choice to go or not to go. What may be immoral for someone may not be for others. Each individual makes his decisions. We should not impose our ideas on them! We should not blame business people for opening places that continue working due to the fact that people continue going there. Also, who are we to judge what others want to do? If we do not like some place we simply should not support it by never going to that particular place. This can compare to the prohibition of women's right to abortion. Why should we force women to bear a child they do not desire? Prohibiting adult clubs will not change the morality of society because those who support the clubs are still going to go whether they become legal or illegal. This is lke saying that all fast food restaurants should disappear because their oily food puts people at risk of getting clustered arteries that at the end would cause heart attacks.
Business people around the "Star Strip Too" club say that their businesses are favored more than affected. For example, Angelo Michaels who has been working as a manager at Rick's Drive In and Out for no less than ten years, tells us how Rick's businesses have gone up mainly because the strip club does not sell any food or liquor. Visitors at the club go to his restaurant to dine or even to just have a cup of coffee. "The club's visitors do not bother anyone; they come to the club to have a good time, to watch and that is it," states Angelo. The club does not offer any pornographic site. It does not have pictures of naked women or big advertisement signs. It only has the name of the club on big letters and the description of their shows in small letters. The strip club does not go against the morality of our community. But, if we want an example of pornographic site, one can find Rodolfo's restaurant on the very corner of Riverside and Fletcher. Rodolfo's is supposed to be a restaurant that holds dances with live bands; however, most of the dances they organize are attended by gays who are half naked walking down the streets most of the times. Rodolfo's does sell liquor so most of its visitors come out of there intoxicated. Once they are under the influence of alcohol, they start acting stupid. They pollute our streets, but people do not object to that just because the so-called restaurant does not have a big sign that says nude dancers.
Other residents, like Isabel Aceves who has lived in Silver Lake for at least twenty-nine years, are not bothered by the idea of having adult entertainment in their neighborhood. Isabel in fact thinks that it is beneficial to have them near the people's houses so that men do not have to go too far for entertainment or to areas that are not safe at all. "Most guests at the strip club are people who are curious about the place. They go, check it out and end up not going there anymore." People see more unpleasant things on television than they see at this club. At least at the club we all know that children are not allowed to enter. In comparison with television, most programs have some kind of sex propaganda , and our children have easy access to them. Even commercials will show at least some woman partly nude. I personally like my child to know about life with real facts. I do not fantasize a world that does not exist. He knows what those places are all about, and he knows he cannot go there until he is of age. Those clubs do not show anything inappropriate. The club looks like a regular bar and not even that because it does not show anything that lets people know that women are dancing with no clothes on. The adult shop looks like any other store. People go in there to see all the curiosities sold there just like when going to any other store. It is like when children go to a house where small decorations of different sizes call their attention; they pick them, look at them and satisfy their curiosity. The outside of the store has no windows to look inside and neither does the strip club. Everything depends on how you want to look at it. I would rather have more strip clubs than clubs for dancing like Rodolfo's because some of its greatest attendance is the gay community. I do not oppose it because I am against homosexuals, but because Rodolfo's does sell alcohol. After consuming liquor, people no longer care whether they are seen kissing and hugging in public. With alcohol in people's system, they do not drive carefully, so driving around the area is no longer safe. Even though This scenery is seen mostly at night, it is not a good site for anyone because the gays going to Rodolfo's are dressed in g-strings and when people pass by with their children, children are surprised that they can see people almost naked. My point of view is that we live in a society where things like this are constantly happening. We must allow our children to see what life is all about with real facts so that when they come across something they have never seen before, they do not become scared and do not know how to react to life. What happens is that there are mothers who want to use children as the excuse to have clubs dismantled because the real fact is that they object to the clubs because their husbands go there. Nonetheless, their husbands are grown ups who can make decisions for themselves, and if it is their choice to go, nothing is going to stop them from going whether they are located in an industrial, commercial, or residential area. In fact, the club is located right below the Golden Gate Freeway. It is surrounded mostly by big bakeries, auto shops, and other businesses so actually children do not have anything to do near the strip club. The residential area begins on Glendale Boulevard, which is a few blocks from the club. The mothers of those children going to the schools should focus on more important matters with regards to programs offered at the schools or dedicating more quality to their children.
"Your rights end where mine begin" is a very common motto among American people and newcomers who have adopted the American culture. But where do we draw the line? To what extent is the Constitution protecting the First Amendment of strip clubs and adult entertainment in general? Many of the club's supporters do not like the idea of removing the clubs because they say the clubs do not hurt anyone.
Courts have set regulations for the clubs to follow. In 1986, the U. S. Supreme Court restricted adult commerce to certain areas and regulated their number and distance from churches, schools and residences (L. A. Times, October 3,1993). Also, Los Angeles county prohibits adult entertainment within 500 feet of residential areas. Additionally, establishing sites within 1,000 feet of each sex entertainment business, within 500 feet of a school or within 500 feet from a residential zone was prohibited by the city law (L. A. Times, October 3, 1993). If adult entertainment follows state and city regulations, there is no reason to close them down when instead of bringing problems they are stimulating the economy.
The so-called spiritual leaders are organizing with the Silver Lake residents to dismantle the place that gives us work. They hate us because we work for a place where nude dancers perform to get pay well. I, bartender at the Star Strip Too club, tell them to come and talk to me. Priests who say they are so religious and read the Bible and are such great Christians instead of condemning the girls for dancing without their clothes should come and talk the girls out of this business. These girls might be the lost sheep who need to be brought back with the rest of the herd. But, without the assistance of those who say they love God and obey him, the dancers have no other alternative but to remain where they are. Many of these girls have families to support. Society condemns women because they become welfare recipients. Society condemns them for dancing nude, but it does not provide them with any financial aid to fulfill their needs and those of their children. People should not hate the dancers, instead they should try to bring them to an acceptable way of life. They hold a job just like everybody else. They come to dance, talk to the customers, serve them drinks (Iced tea and fruit juices, of course, because we do not sell alcohol) and go home to live an ordinary life. Spiritual leaders and residents who disagree with the type of job the strippers do should come to talk to the girls. They will find out that they are not bad at all. The girls have good hearts but they have made a bad choice about their jobs or they have no skills to find another thing to do that will leave them enough money to make a living.
Some priests pretend to be what they are not. They spend hours and hours telling people how to live their lives and what God does not like but then go home to watch porno movies. This is not something I am making up, we see it daily on television news often about priests sexually harassing or molesting their followers. People concerned with what the children see as they pass by our club should try to monitor their children's selection on the programs they watch on television. They also accuse us of selling liquor or our customers of coming out of here intoxicated. Let me tell and prove to them that they have an erroneous idea. First of all, we do not sell alcohol. The drinks we serve are iced tea, bottled water, apple juice, orange juice, tomato juice, and non-alcoholic beer. We do allow smoking. It is true some customers have a few drinks before coming here but not to the point where they are intoxicated. We have pool tables for the customers to play. There are three stages for the girls to dance and private rooms for private dances. It does not mean that because they dance privately, customers may touch the dancers --absolutely not! The purpose of the privacy is because some customers do not like to be seen observing the strippers' performance so carefully. I just want to say that if people want to cut up on pornography, they should start with television.
Scott has worked as a stripper at the "Star Strip Too" club for four years. She likes working there because they make good money. I do not use my real name to protect my identity, not because I am ashamed of what I am doing, but so that people do not go into my privacy. This is my job, and that is it. I am not prostituting myself. I am using what God gave me to make some good money. An average amount of money I make is approximately $200.00 dollars a day and more, when is really busy, like during the weekends. Stripping has nothing to do with religion or morals. I am a Catholic, and I respect my religion. I have not told my parents what I do for a living because they do not like nude dancers, but I am thirty-three years old and can make my own decisions. All of my coworkers are of age, some are in their late twenties and others in their early thirties. I do not find anything wrong with this job. I truly believe that morals are something individuals carry within themselves. Those dirty-minded people would find something pornographic everywhere even at the most unthinkable places. They walk with a false face about their own beliefs while we the strippers just publicly admit that we believe in freedom of speech and choice. Our customers come to see us dance, sometimes so often that they get to know us by name. The club is just a way of relaxing from the stress of everyday life. Those who do not like the club do not have to come, and those who do are welcomed to the entertainment.
A regular guest at Star Strip Too strongly stated that no one is forced to attend those clubs, and no one has to see what they do not want to see. All of us who come here do it as a way of entertaining ourselves. We consider the girls' performance as art. They dance and take their clothes off, but we cannot touch them. This is like another private community in which men have the opportunity to look at naked women. Everything becomes so normal that we no longer look at them with morbidity..
I do not know why people make a big deal out of nothing. Residents complain because their children pass by a place that has a sign that says "Nude Dancers" in neon letters; still, they do not complain when they go to the beaches and see many men and women getting suntan on diminutive bikinis. Sometimes women untie their top to get a more complete suntan and that does not seem to bother anyone. Even if it did, that person's right would be violated because as long as she does not show her private parts she is not committing an immorality.
This particular place is not located in a residential zone, most buildings surrounding it are businesses, so it is not affecting the children at all. Those women who object to the clubs are oppressed and frustrated women who are jealous of other girls' courage to do what they do. It is not the owners' fault either of being where they are. It is the fault of those who provide the permits because they are the ones who study the zone before allowing any businesses to open.
Those women who are concerned about their husbands well-being, who want them to be safe instead of worrying about strip clubs, they should organize to close the bars where alcohol is consumed. Even at a dance when going with one's wife, both consume alcohol and lose their five senses becoming incapable of driving properly. We should all focus on alcohol, which is one of the number one killers in this country. Let us all join for a good cause to outlaw liquor, to get rid of violent programs given on television. It is wasted energy to target the adult entertainment. I, customer, have been coming to the club for years. This is not the only club I have been to, but I personally like the Star Strip Club because the girls are very friendly. Many of us know each other, so sometimes we just get together to play pool or simply to talk. I certainly do not want many places like this all over the city but a few are okay.
To conclude this paper, I was encountered with the challenge of myself getting a point of view over the subject. After talking to many people about this place my next step was to personally find out what strip clubs are all about. The first obstacle I faced was my husband. He was not very pleased with the fact that I was going to go to the club by myself. He thought I would be bothered if I went there on my own. Somehow, I convinced him that writers must know exactly what they are talking about and should not only speculate, so he finally agreed to let me explore the field. Next, I was encountered by my cultural beliefs. As a Hispanic and married woman, it is difficult to just appear at a place like this for a show. This is something I have never done before. My final obstacle was to bear the criticism I was going to receive from my coworkers at work which is very, very close to the strip club. Many of them would not understand the reasons for my going there. Some may even accuse me of being lesbian or who knows what. Still, I decided I had to go.
It was 12:30 P.M. of a Monday afternoon when for the first time I stepped into a strip club, the Star Strip Too. I asked the person at the entrance to let me in for research, and he friendly let me in. As I walked inside, one of the girls warmly welcomed me and headed me to a chair. The place was warm. I would even say that it was stuffy. There were not too many customers, for it was early in the afternoon. The girls were dressed in tiny, tight shorts with bikini tops. There were three stages surrounded by chairs, only one girl was performing at a time. The few customers present happened to be of different ethnic backgrounds. The atmosphere seemed to be very healthy. Only a few people were smoking. There were no alcoholic beverages. All the girls treat each other like family members. When it was time for her show, the stripper performing walks through the corridor, gets on the stage, makes some exotic movements, takes her clothes off slowly and within five or ten minutes the show is over. She collects her tips and then it is turn for another performer. I did not hear any of the customers yelling or getting wild. To the contrary, they were quietly sitting down, watching very carefully the girls' movements as if they did not want to miss the slightest detail. I did not see anything I have not seen on a movie or a television program. Nothing was out of this world. The strippers behave well so they are not molested. Everybody was obeying the regulations of the place. I was at the counter where the cash register was. From there, I could see the entire place. The places I could not see because they were far, I was watching them through a monitor that they have placed on the counter. It monitors the parking lot, the private rooms, and the hallways. When the bartender sees any of the performers being disturbed, he immediately calls security.
I would like to say to people that it is time for us to remove the blindfold that we have put around our eyes so we can actually see what is going on in our society. I found out there is nothing terrible going on in these clubs. But, if some people still do not like the club, it is fine, but if others do like them, their choice should be respected.
SILVER LAKE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION HAS BORN Even though the community of Silver Lake faces many difficulties, many of its neighbors are very concerned people who try to maintain a healthy environment. Such is the interest of those neighbors that they decided to organize and get together to discuss all the aspects they did not like about their community. They founded this way the Silver Lake Residents Association Inc.(SLRA). This organization brings up some of the problems of more interest to the residents. People pay an annual fee when becoming members of this association. This money is used for purchasing paper, envelopes and all the office supplies needed to write letters to inform the members of what is being done about the problems pending. Some examples of their concerns are the covering of the reservoirs by the Department of Water and Power, traffic, and the retention of the Hathaway estate for public use, They name committees to investigate the different problems Based on the information gathered, they vote on some possible solutions and hire the appropriate consultants who will tell them the best thing to do to obtain their objectives. The money used to finance this organization comes mostly from donations made by its members and big corporations that support their plans. The Silver Lake Residents Association has worked very hard to keep the reservoirs open. They also have been working on the Hathaway estate. They would like to keep this land and use it as a recreational place to build a theater or some sort of museum available for all families who would pay small fees that will help the maintenance of the place. The Garbutt house would be the best place to set the theater and a replica of the Angel's Flight would be constructed to take people up the hill. They have been working on reducing traffic, and have been successful. They stopped the construction of a new fast food restaurant on Silver Lake and Glendale Boulevard by pacifically protesting during meetings offered by the Urban Development Department.
RESIDENTS' MOBILIZATION TOWARDS IMPROVEMENT OF SILVER LAKE
It is a fact that neighbors of the SLRA get together to work on the cleanliness of Silver Lake. Many times I have seen signs posted on the reservoir's gate asking residents to participate on the cleaning of the neighborhood. These signs have specific date and time when they are all going to clean. They suggest that people bring their own tools to sweep the streets and collect garbage. I think this is a very good way of taking pride of a community, because many of us like to go jogging around the Lake, but we do not like to run around a dirty place, so we can help by contributing a few hours of volunteer work.
I have seen that the reservoir is being modified. The basketball court is now surrounded by a gate. The park's gate has been changed to a stronger one. More greengrass has been planted. The area where people take their dogs to run has been cleaned up, has more greengrass, and benches have been placed there as well. The sidewalk around the playground area has been enlarged and cleared of dry bushes. Water fountains have been distributed through the whole park. It seems to me that the park is being prepared for summer so that people can have a safer and cleaner place to go for recreation or simply relaxation. Although I have mentioned the cleanliness of the place several times, I have nothing bad to say about it for it has always been clean but is now even cleaner. One of the best things about the park is that sports teams for children are being encouraged. The playground has been divided to provide some space for people to have barbecues. Another small area has been assigned for dogs and pets to play.
FUTURE PROJECTION OF THE COMMUNITY
The Silver Lake residents have showed that when one takes pride on his property and is concerned with the on-going changes can make a difference when gathering together and taking immediate initiative over what needs to be done to obtain objectives. Other communities should look at the Silver Lake Residents Association as a good example of making things possible. There are no excuses over who can be part of these organizations. Silver Lake has faced social problems and will face even more, but its neighbors will not allow its deterioration. It will continue to be a beautiful area and a pleasant place to live.