La Perla, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Initially, the area was the site of a slaughterhouse because the law required the homes of slaves and homeless black and coloured servants – as well as cemeteries – to be established away from the main community center: in this case, outside the city walls.

Located inside the Old San Juan Historic District, La Perla (The Pearl) was originally the site of a slaughterhouse, called El Matadero.

In 2010, Carmelo Anthony remodeled the basketball court located to the eastern side of La Perla, with a new surface and design featuring the logo of Air Jordan’s Melo footwear line.

[1][10][11] In 2016, students of architecture at universities in Puerto Rico asked children for their ideas on how to improve their favorite areas of La Perla.

[12][13][14] El Bowl is a colorful, bowl-shaped cemented area in La Perla, used for skateboarding on weekdays, and then filled with water on weekends, to serve as a pool.

[15] "Despacito" (the song title that translates to "slowly") was also used to highlight and criticize the slow United States response to the destruction at La Perla caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, where the video was filmed.

The dividing line between the subbarrios is the imagined extension of Calle San Justo to the north beyond the old city wall to the Atlantic coast.

The eastern part consists of Census blocks 3002, 3009 und 3010, with a population of 64, 35 housing units (4 unoccupied), and 31 households, on 41,348 square yards (8.5 acres; 34,572 m²).

From La Perla, through taped interviews with dozens of intertwined family members who lived there in the 1940s-1960s, Lewis wrote an award-winning and controversial book.

"[17] In 1978, salsa singer Ismael Rivera had a hit song, written by composer Catalino Curet Alonso, in honor of this community, and named after it.