Nice column by Steve Lopez in the Times today about El Batey Market at the heart of Chicken Corner. (Hall of mirrors: He mentions Echo Park blogger Jenny Burman, with whom he spoke by phone yesterday.) Lopez hits a bunch of nails on the head, and still the issues are elusive. Is it silly to want a market to stay in place just because it's been there for 41 years and the proprietress is well-liked? In the "People's Republic of Echo Park," as Lopez calls it, is natural market initiative welcome? Soy milk or chilis? Should the shop be updated, re-imagined?

Then again, consider this: tiny boutiques and shops such as El Batey pushed out for higher rents; then empty storefronts. Call it science fiction. Certainly other scenarios are possible. But do we have to be fatalistic about it? And, that said, who are "we"?