VivirLatino

La Perla de San Juan Puerto Rico is a shanty town/slum/neighborhood with squatter roots made famous infamous by the arguable racist anthropological study La Vida by Oscar Lewis. As a child I was never allowed to go inside la Perla, located in prime real estate, in old San Juan overlooking the sea. My grandmother gave me La Vida as a gift, justifying why I was never to go to la Perla or any other Puerto Rican housing project. Tourists in all guides are advised not to go in la Perla. La Perla has a reputation for being dangerous, kind of like a Puerto Rican City of God , rife with drugs and dangerous crime. And while that may be true to an extent, La Perla is also a thriving community of survival rich with culture and history which makes plans for development a cause for concern.

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