This is Skid Row, or at least the far western border of it, and for several decades, the only signs of commercial life along this stretch of Main Street were dive bars, grimy convenience stores and gritty “single-room occupancy” hotels, home to the poorest of the city’s poor.

were the strays that darted across Main-desperate and without shelter, like the men and women who stumbled on its sidewalks, or squeezed their way beneath accordian gates at night for the relative safety of the garbage-choked entrances to what had once been some of the most opulent office buildings west of the Mississippi. It wasn’t so long ago that the only dogs and cats in this rapidly reinventing stretch of downtown L.A. “You live a stylish and progressive lifestyle,” the shop assures visitors to its website, “and your pet companion should too!” Among the standouts on the Pawbar menu is a plate of fresh raw meats drizzled with gourmet sauce, accompanied by Bowser beer and followed by a dish of Yoghund frozen yogurt. Pussy & Pooch even boasts a Pawbar, providing local Chihuahuas and English bulldogs with the kind of fine dining experience that their owners routinely enjoy at the cafes crowding the avenue. Īt the Pussy & Pooch boutique on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles, the array of bejeweled collars, canine aromatherapy candles and post-modern cat scratchers demonstrates just how good life has become for the privileged pets of the neighborhood. Ed Leibowitz is a writer-at-large at Los Angeles Magazine.

Starters orders 6 skidrow