Vendors sell fruits and vegetables from the back of old pickup trucks.
And brightly colored shopfronts bear their messages in Spanish. At the turn of the century, the residents were largely European, but today's community is predominantly Mexican. And in this year's presidential election, the Latino vote remains a sought-after commodity. The Pilsen neighborhood is plagued by a variety of problems including poverty, gang violence and high dropout rates. Voter turnout has fallen from 81 percent in 1976 to 56 percent in 1996, and the number of registered voters has dropped from 19,561 to 14,689 four years ago.