Hollydale Entrepreneurs Feel Disconnected with South Gate

The sign in front of PDogs, a restaurant on Garfield Avenue, reads “Paramount Style,” with pride.  The sticker at the order window champions the Pirates of Paramount High-school, and Alejandro Yanez, the owner of the establishment, is wearing a-shirt that says Paramount. However, PDogs is not in the city of Paramount, but in the neighborhood of Hollydale, which is part of South Gate.

“The name PDog is for Paramount [Dog],” said Yanez, adding that the bulk of his customers come from neighboring Paramount. “If that were not the case I would call it SGDog.”

Hollydale is a neighborhood situated across the I-710 and to the southeast of South Gate’s main geographic body. It is a neighborhood served by both the Paramount Unified School District and Downey Unified School District. While the majority of South Gate is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Hollydale is also a place where it is not uncommon to see patrol cars from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, with Paramount signs on their doors, in some of the streets.

“Some customers told me that we are kind of like in twilight zone,” said Yanez, who as a resident, and business owner of Hollydale, shares this view.

David Singh, manager of Lucky Sale Liquor on Paramount Boulevard in Hollydale, admits to informally adopting the identity of another neighboring city, which is located just down the street from their location.

“At times we will associate ourselves with Downey,” said Singh. “[Hollydale] looks like it doesn’t belong anywhere.”

Businesses in Hollydale feel that its distance from the rest of South Gate, and its unique characteristics, do not help it when competing for attention against other local business districts.

“We have never had the strength of Tweedy Boulevard,” said Felipe Diaz, proprietor of San Francisco Real Estate on Main Street in Hollydale.  “We at times feel a little marginalized.”

Lack of support through the promotion of the Hollydale commercial area was another concern that bothered some business owners.

“[The city] does not promote commerce in this area,” said Maria Hernandez, owner of Hernandez Water Store on Garfield Avenue. “Not a lot of people come to shop in this area.”

South Gate Mayor Bill De Witt, who resides in Hollydale, admits to knowing about the feeling of disconnection that both businesses and residents feel. However, he believes the perception of this is greater than the reality.

“It’s just a perception that Hollydale is a somewhat orphan of South Gate,” said De Witt, adding that the city has spent a lot of resources on and that the downward economy is the biggest hurdle towards spending more. “We in no way discriminate with our resources on that community.”

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