Azalia Snail: Community Can Make Change

As we celebrate KCET's 50th anniversary, we are visiting your community to ask you, what makes you love California and how we can envision a better future for all. The following was recorded at the Burbank Ice Rink, December 2014. For more and to participate in our next 50 years, join us at kcet.org/50.

"Hello my name is Azalia and I live in Los Angeles. I've been here for about 14 years. I came to Los Angeles because New York was getting a little bit too gentrified and I was there for a really long time and I actually always thought I would stay in New York and then I started coming out here on tour and slowly but surely fell in love with Los Angeles and decided to move here in late 1999.

"I moved into Echo Park, it reminded me of the old New York, like the old East Village where a lot of people of different races and ages and artists were living with blue collared people. There's still a little bit of that left but it's becoming also more gentrified here, it scares me a little bit.

"A development that they were trying to put up in Echo Park, a neighbor made a petition and so we all signed the petition and it actually did prevent this one particular building from going up. So I do believe that a community gathering together can prevent things that they don't necessarily want to see in the neighborhood. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want a city to remain what's great about living in a city. It's artistic, vibrant, all kinds of people live together and they influence each other.

"I still love the diversity of the artistic community there. I love that there's some more cool restaurants coming in. I love the hills. The environment is absolutely beautiful there. I love the trees. Yes, California has been really good to me. I found the love of my life here. So that was really good. We have a band together and it's really been great."