This post actually caught my attention due to the location in which it took place. Though the blogger, Patrick- and perhaps geographically as well- referred to the this area as East LA I'm fairly certain that this is not the case with the Angelinos residing here.
I am familiar with this location due to my involvement with a particular program located here which allows me to serve as a mentor to underprivileged high school students. One of the first questions I asked them was if they referred to the area as East LA or was it simply Boyle Heights? Their response was that they didn't consider themselves to be from East LA but Boyle Heights. I just found it interesting but to an extent it is partly true if you consider the difference in ambiance and history that exists between the two locations. Though this answer might change depending how east you are of Boyle Heights, but since the blogger went to Guisados and ended in Little Tokyo, the location is actually not that far east.
East LA is largely known for the Latino population residing there. This population started in "East LA" and it wasn't until the original population living in Boyle Heights (Jewish, Armenians, Japanese) decided to leave it after World War II in exchange for the suburbs that it become heavily Latino. This makes the Boyle Heights' community fairly new when compared to the East LA community. This affects the difference in resources, services offered, etc. making both areas distinct.
Other than that I do agree with the poster, the Cesar Chaves street seems to be more important than downtown, but this is perhaps due to the difference in communities. Downtown seems to be more diverse in regards to people, restaurants, etc, you are able to find a little bit of everything, while the Cesar Chaves street is more community oriented (In this case the Latino community).
And yes, Little Tokyo is less than a mile west of Boyle Heights and it is astronomically different to Boyle heights. Granted it only consists of about four blocks, but still. Actually, this makes Little Tokyo even more fascinating because if you continue west you will hit the fashion district which also has a very heavy Latino and Black Population. However, given the history of Boyle Heights and the area surrounding it, the location of Little Tokyo is not at all that surprising.
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