The “Silk Flower” District
As I’ve been walking White Dog more and more (4x a day, 1/2 hr to 45 min per walk) I’ve started checking out new areas. One day I went south from Little Tokyo (I think Little Tokyo is technically 3rd St. and north) and I went down 4th St. between Los Angeles and Central. What an amazing walk this was! I guess it’s technically the Warehouse district, with the Toy District as a sub-district. Boxes of merchandise lined the sidewalks, stacked up to 10′ tall, waiting to be moved into small shops that were on both sides of the street. Most of the shops had signs that said “Wholesale Only” and were full of various junky toys, caps, etc.
Then I stumbled on a 1 block section that was completely filled with Silk Flower shops on both sides of the street (4th St. between San Pedro and Los Angeles). I told a friend about this and she said “oh yeah, I know the Flower district” but I said no, this is the “Silk Flower” District (technically “Section”, not District). I cannot believe there is such a huge market to support these shops, but there must be. Just like there is a huge market to support the block long section of smoke shops/bong dealers on 3rd St.
Stay tuned for my post about the REAL Skid Row- it turns out it was just one block away on 5th St. and I ran smack into it one afternoon. I have to go back with my camera are document some of the craziness…
