eastside living LA

Editor’s Note

Welcome to Eastside Living Los Angeles (ELLA), a new media collective geared toward the creative communities that make up L.A.’s Eastside mosaic. Through our website, eastsidelivingla.com, we aim to provide unparalleled coverage of the arts, culture and politics – both from within our shifting geographic boundaries and beyond.

Please bear with us as we continue to work through the kinks and test the waters in our beta site. During this period, your feedback is most welcome. Have suggestions or criticism of the content or design? Your input will help shape the final ella product.

In the months since we launched the beta site, there have been several important changes around here – notably our business structure.  The brainchild of two journalists and a veteran of the advertising and publishing industries in Los Angeles, we started as a web-based media venture (with plans for an associated print publication), focused primarily on local news and traditional community content. However, both the economic climate and continuing flux in the media industries have forced us to redefine our identity. 

So we have decided to become what we are.

At its core, ella is a collective of professional journalists, photographers and creative writers, artists and designers, intellectuals and otherwise enchanting characters. As such, our passions lie with nurturing and proliferating arts, culture and journalism with a capital “J” both within our communities – and across the many divides that separate us from other like-minded thinkers and dreamers. 

This also means that all of us can usually be caught chasing freelance paychecks or letting our last ounce of blood for non-paying productions or good causes – just for the love of it.

So while we’re not beholden to any interests except our own and yours – our readers’ – the business end of an artists’ collective gets less grease than a media machine. We’ll get there.

A note about the “eastside”: Since going live, we have received a wealth of support and encouragement, some constructive criticism, and a just a couple poisoned arrows. The elephant in the room is the definition of “eastside.” Some consider East L.A. (proper) the only true “eastside” of Los Angeles. Others think Hollywood is “east,” which begs the question, “east of what?” There are obvious implications about what a community defines itself against, and in this case there are are very legitimate concerns to be discussed – about the disenfranchisement and marginalization of the communities of East L.A., and the gentrifying sprawl that continues to creep eastward. 

We welcome that dialogue, as it will continue to shape who we are.

Most of us live east of the L.A. river, but we are an organic, inclusive movement, looking to record and feed the endeavors of our fellow creatives. We are not redrawing geographic boundaries; rather, we are responding to creative alchemy now fomenting in certain concentrations, mostly east of the river – but also in neighboring swatches of earth. 

Perhaps more importantly, our ultimate interests lie in the concept of a collective like ella – which we believe has the potential to transcend geographic boundaries and forge communities from the fiber of common interests and fundamental alignments. Sometimes community is less about geographic borders, and more about the synapses that draw us to one another from very different places.

The ELLA group already includes a stable of experienced writers, contributing editors and photographers, and will continue to introduce new talent. 

Join us! 

Have a story idea, comment or want us to post pictures from your event? Are you a writer or photographer looking to contribute? Want us to profile your business or art, or use your location for photo shoots? We are also interested in collaborating with bloggers. Send an e-mail to editor@eastsidelivingla.com. Business owners looking to advertise with us can write to advertising@eastsidelivingla.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Beige Luciano-Adams

Editor