Ricardo Palavecino
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I almost always take the bus since my daughters are long gone. My husband is sick so he can't drive anymore.
Our customer base is varied, we have lots of Latinos but also Anglos, Armenians, a few. A little of bit of everything.
A radical change I've seen? Less violence. You can walk the streets with ease compared to how it was in the 90's, 2000. It's very different.
Barbers are becoming extinct, there aren't enough barbers these days because it costs $15,000 dollars to become one. So a lot young guys prefer studying something else.
Gang violence went down. It's not as bad as before. We had an accident recently over here. I guess two young cats got killed on the corner over here, but besides that it's been pretty calm.
It is a nice neighborhood. Quiet. I drive the same route every day from 5:00am to 1:30pm. I pull the bus out of the yard, do my rounds, and get relief at 1:30pm every day.
Many years ago, they gave us money for the park, the park was going to be taken away, yet the community of Cypress Park fought for that park and now we have that park.
Walk the river all the time. We go up there and pick figs and pomegranates, depending on the season.
I have a fabric shop and I do custom upholstery. I opened my store on the boulevard in nineteen seventy-four. Eighty percent of my clients are local.
I've been here for four years. It's calm around here. People are relaxed and respectful.
When I was a kid you used to see kids riding bikes and skateboards or playing baseball on the street. You don't see that on Drew Street. A lot of the kids are inside their apartments.
Twice a week I'm out here working. I start at 4 a.m. and end around 3 p.m. I go all the way down to Olympic and Soto to bring my nopales by bus.