Face-lift for East L.A.

Millions of dollars are being spent in the area along Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles, a strip that in its heyday was a center of Latino pride and activism.

"It would be a stretch to call it a revitalization project because much of the street -- a 16-mile thoroughfare stretching from downtown Los Angeles through Montebello, Pico Rivera and Whittier and into the northern tip of Orange County -- was never much to look at.

"Still, tens of millions of public and private dollars have begun filtering in along the boulevard, targeting unkempt medians, crumbling curbs, abandoned lots. There are dozens of condos, apartments and houses going up, and officials have hatched plans for nearly a dozen mixed-use projects in coming years, with European-style, street-level shops and restaurants below homes," reports Scott Gold.

Photo: Sierra Uribe, 2, dines with her mother and grandparents at Chroni's, a classic food stand on Whittier Boulevard. Anne Cusack/the Los Angeles Times