Community Corner
Etiquette in Echo Park
When it comes to politeness in Los Angeles, how would you rank Echo Park?
It's hard to shake that ruder-than-thou assumption about people from Los Angeles. We're a city of famous, but famous for what? We hide behind Aviator frames, refuse to smile on the street and dish enough self-entitled attitude on our freeways it's become synonymous with the city. NBC even posited that L.A. could be the nation's rudest city. But when it comes to judging our own, should we bank on stereotypes? Below, we hear from locals on what they believe when it comes to social etiquette in Echo Park.
"I think if you know the people in Echo Park it's like a small town vibe. ... So if you're 'in,' people are super cool, laid back, very polite and affectionate. But when people come into Echo Park from other parts of the city, locals that live here can be rude to outsiders. It goes both ways." -- Justin Warwick
"On the west side, things are more affluent-based, here it feels more based on artistic or cultural prowess. There's more diversity here, too, because of the area's origins, and more tolerance. People who live here seek out differences among one another" -- anonymous worker at
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"It's so charming here, all kinds of people getting along. When you're out late at night or early, people tend to be friendlier—when there's less people it's more special that there's someone on the street. I'm used to looking at people in the eye and smiling." -- Aaron Ballard, Ballard's Artwork Framing & Gallery
"People are naturally and genuinely nice. If they're having a bad day they're not gonna pretend. I'm from Europe so I prefer more emphasis on being genuine." – Mike Dijanni
Find out what's happening in Echo Park-Silver Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"It pretty much depends on how I respond to them. If I'm nice they'll be nice. I deliver flowers all over Echo Park, and I get a lot of nice people, but it's the way I present myself. I don't think Echo Park is necessarily more polite than other cities, though I've delivered on the west side, and they're pretty much on the snottier side." -- Dean Delasalas
"I've lived around here for six years and work in Echo Park. I've always experienced everybody being friendly. When you're walking around, people smile at you. Wherever you go there's going to be snotty people, it's not any more or less here, but I do think it's friendlier here than West Hollywood." -- Natalie Reed
