As lawmakers look at ways to protect Altadena from large-scale redevelopment after the Eaton Fire, some survivors say they're worried the community they knew could disappear.
Shawna Dawson Beer lost her home in the Eaton Fire. She told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian that many residents are only now realizing how much the neighborhood could change.
“I think to some degree this is inevitable, right?” she said. “We have talked about before that, you know, communities are in a constant change of evolution, but that evolution usually plays out across generations and decades. With a disaster like ours, we are now having to live through, you know, what is being coined as 'climate gentrification'."
She added that residents are fighting for the people and history that made Altadena special.
“Our community was one of the only places that black families could purchase land in Los Angeles County, and as a result, we have a large historically black community in Altadena,” she said. “We also have a large brown and working-class community and even just a frankly white and working-class community in Altadena. That is the area, what we call West of Lake, that very sadly was impacted most heavily by this fire. And it's important to understand that because what went with it was all of our historic architecture.”
Residents are asking leaders for a clear long-term plan as rebuilding continues.
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