Patch Series Will Explore Today's 'American Dream'

America's future isn't what it used to be. We're having to adapt what we expect from our careers, our families, our lives.

It's dizzying: national debates about unemployment, foreclosures, debt, religion, government and private enterprise are altering how we see ourselves and our communities.

It's apparent every day in Echo Park, as storefronts on Sunset stay vacant, as hundreds crowd the pavement at short-sale auctions, as we pay for another repair to keep our worn-out vehicles on the road.

But we also see bold new volunteer efforts, inspiring stories of local businesses that succeed because they innovated and locals who've taken these trying times as a signal to engage more, not less, in their government.

At Patch, we want to explore that conversation on a daily basis so we can better understand how our neighbors are adjusting their vision of the American Dream in the context of these changes

"Dispatches" will be built upon the compelling vignettes and snapshots we unearth across all of our Patch sites.

At the purely local level, we want to know where we, as Echo Park-Silver Lake residents, fit along these fault lines.

But, we'll need your help: Tell us what issues and what stories in Echo Park go to the heart of your adjustement of the American Dream.

And keep your eyes out for the “Dispatches” that are coming soon from the Echo Park-Silver Lake area.