Latino Urbanism

“Latino urbanism” describes the myriad ways that immigrants from Latin America are remaking American cities to feel more like the places from which they came. It describes a culture in many ways the opposite of the “intensely private” city Leon Whiteson described, with an emphasis much more on sociability and extending private and commercial realms outside and onto the street. Perhaps there’s no better example of this than LA’s CicLAvia-modeled on Bogotá’s Ciclovía-the open streets festival that brings tens of thousands of pedestrians and cyclists out onto temporarily closed streets. Latino urbanism is remaking California by adapting what already exists. David Butow’s photo essay captures this dynamic in action in California.