Paradise in Rosemead, Cal.

Tree and foliage-laden Paradise Trailer Park at 8069 Garvey Avenue has stood the years as its surroundings have absorbed the march of mini malls, Chinese markets, Chinese restaurants, and store signs that spell out CVS, Starbucks, and Phó.  Garvey Avenue was a major east-west corridor before the placement of the San Bernardino Freeway.

The sign is frozen in time.

The earliest structure at the address was built in 1922, and improvements continued in the 1930s and 1940s.
An additional property further back and ending at Whitmore Street was constructed in 1956.

The river rock wall runs along the front on Garvey Avenue.

The L.A. Times reported that in 1989 there were 740 such parks in the county of Los Angeles.  The state's Housing and Community Development statistics show that the number of parks has fallen to 644 in July, 2008.  In Rosemead there have been other recent activities by developers that have threatened or have displaced mobile home residents.

Adjacent to the east of Paradise, a tract of land at 3053 San Gabriel Boulevard, where another mobile home park had been, was demolished without permit in 2007.


To the west at 8001 Garvey sits 18 vacant acres formerly the site of Los Angeles Dealer Auto Auction.  It closed at the end of March in 2009 after over 60 years in business.  In August, 2010 when this photo was taken, no new development has taken place.

Beyond the fence is the expansive field of the former L.A. Dealer Auto Auction.