As an outsider walking the few blocks on Pico, in a predominantly what is known as a Jewish community, one can be confused. Without prior knowledge, it is not readily apparent that the community is that of Jewish predominance. There are many stores with names that depict the origins of their owners. There was a French cleaners, an Ethiopian restaurant, a Persian meat mart and an Indian shop all along the strip, right next to the Jewish shops, synagogues and adult day centers. An outsider might become overwhelmed, as I did, with all the things there was to see.
It was so interesting walking down the street and seeing all the community had to offer for its residents. It was so well contained within itself. It's so strange to realize how many times I have driven down that street and never paid attention to all the richness it had to offer. The people that were walking down the street were so interesting and nice. They all in one way or another acknowledged our presence in their community. The community seemed to have an excellent public transportation system.
On another side, it was sad to see how unkept the streets were. The trash was overflowing and the bus stops were all covered with graffiti. I didn't really get to go into the residential streets, so I cannot really speaks for the side streets, but the main street of Pico was very unkept. Another thing I noticed was that the windows to the shops all had metal bars. Maybe a sign of a dangerous neighborhood? Or simply maybe buildings just built when there weren't any alarm systems set up? I don't really know the answer to that question, but either way, the first impression the bars leave is that of an unsafe neighborhood.
It was an interesting experience walking down the streets of an unknown neighborhood. It was as though we were walking through an unknown territory, discovering it for the first time. All the richness it had to offer was in fact overwhelming, and just walking through it once was not enough to soak it all in.
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