Today, on our way back from our monthly visit to Orange County for lunch and shopping, we stopped by Plaza Mexico, a shopping center themed as a traditional Mexican town plaza.I had read about its opening a year or so ago in the Los Angeles Times, and I had wanted to see it for myself ever since. It's located in the city of Lynwood, near the intersection of the 710 and 105 freeways, southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Besides the extensive Mexican theming, the shopping center also has several stores that cater towards a Latino customer base, such as La Curacao, where immigrants can buy furniture and other goods and have them sent to their hometowns in Latin America.
From San Quinones' article in the Los Angeles Times:One high-profile example is Plaza Mexico in Lynwood. Plaza Mexico attempts to replicate a traditional Mexican downtown in a strip mall formerly anchored by a Montgomery Ward department store.
The plaza resembles Monte Alban, the ancient Indian ruins in Oaxaca. Its shops have the bold colors of a typical provincial town, and there is a shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The plaza's clock tower replicates the facade of the government palace in Guadalajara. The stone and the lamps that light the plaza are imported from Mexico. Even the tiles on the plaza contain occasional figures from loteria, a Mexican children's game.
The governor of the state of Nayarit donated a statue in honor of Mexican mothers that stands at one end of the plaza. And other Mexican governors make appearances there when visiting Southern California.
Plaza Mexico's developer is Donald Chae, a Korean immigrant who has labored to make his shopping center distinctly Mexican in the same way Chinatown is distinctly Chinese. He hired Luis Felipe Nieto, an archaeologist and restoration expert from San Miguel Allende, Guanajuato, to advise on Mexican designs and colors.
There was a miniature train operating in the parking lot, which was a pleasant diversion for our daughter. Unfortunately, the train went around the parking lot, where I was concerned we might be broadsided by a inattentive driver.
When I was taking photos of the central building in the plaza, I was approached by a security guard."What are you taking photos for?"
"Just for my interest."
"Well, you can take photos of your family members, but you can't take photos of the buildings or the shopping center without permission from the administration."
"Why not?"
"Because this is private property. You can't take photos of the shopping center without permission."
I suppose I can understand that they would have such a policy, but it just seems hard to draw the line between taking family photos to remember your visit, and taking photos of the place you are visiting. When a shopping center is designed to be a tourist attraction, it seems unreasonable to prevent people from taking photos of the shopping center.
