Is it Dodger Stadium, or Chavez Ravine

and why would it be called Chavez Ravine anyway? There is nary a ravine in sight.

and it was there, and home to a sizeable mainly Hispanic population before they were evicted when the city acquired it by eminent domain and then turned it over to the Dodgers under rather shady circumstances.

So abusing eminent domain for the benefit of private parties - though more indirectly in this case - is hardly new.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chavezravine/cr.html

eminent domain is an evil concept

But it was when I was 7 years old and my dad took me to a couple of Angels/Yankees games.

When we went to Dodger/Giants games at the same location, it was called Dodger Stadium.

Chavez Ravine was the correct name for Dodger Stadium, but it represented a thriving (but poor and Mexican) neighborhood that was razed to build Dodger Stadium.

It's not a pretty story, though I have to admit to having good memories of going to ball games there a few times. I had no idea of the circumstances of course. I just felt privileged to be going to a baseball game with my father.

Thanks for the memories, KitchenWitch. The reality is not so nice, unfortunately.


Unknown photographer (United States), Eviction of the Arechiga family from Chavez Ravine, May 8, 1959,

Here's a link to some info on Chavez Ravine.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chavezravine/

b_b

Viva Gigantes!

it was a ravine before the authorities had it bulldozed. I read that the inhabitants grew a lot of their own vegetables and such, in part because it was surprisingly isolated from the rest of Los Angeles. To me that suggests some serious geological impediment.