Leimert Park, Los Angeles

Leimert Park is a 1.19-square-mile residential neighborhood in the south region of Los Angeles, California, It is a master planned community built in the 1920s with Spanish Colonial Revival homes and tree-lined streets. It is also considered the center of both rich historical and contemporary African American art, music, and culture in Los Angeles.[1]

Houses along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in eastern Leimert Park

Location

Leimert Park boundaries as drawn by the Los Angeles Times

Jefferson Park flanks Leimert Park to the north, the Exposition Park neighborhood and Vermont Square to the east, Hyde Park to the south and View Park-Windsor Hills and Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw to the west. Leimert Park angles to the West Adams district on the northwest.[2] Leimert Park is bounded by Exposition Boulevard on the north, South Van Ness Avenue and Arlington Avenue on the east, West Vernon Avenue on the south and Victoria Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard on the west.[3][4]

Adjacent neighborhoods

Relation of Leimert Park to other communities:[2][3]

 West Adams Jefferson Park
View Park-Windsor Hills and Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Exposition Park and Vermont Square
   Leimert Park  
Hyde Park

History

Leimert Park Theater in the 1970s.

Leimert Park is named for its developer, Walter H. Leimert, who began the subdivision project in 1928. He had the master plan designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm, of the sons of New York's Central Park landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted. Leimert Park was one of the first comprehensively planned communities in Southern California designed for upper and middle-income families. It was considered a model of urban planning for its time: automobile traffic near schools and churches was minimized, utility wires were buried or hidden from view in alleys, and densely planted trees lined its streets. Walter Leimert envisioned a self-sufficient community, with a town square, movie theatre, and retail shopping. Leimert Park became a desirable community, and one of the first to have a Home Owners' Association (HOA).

The Mediterranean Revival Style Leimert Park Theater, now renamed the Vision Theatre, is located at the south end of Leimert Park Village at 3341 West Forty-Third Place and Degnan Ave. It was designed in 1931 by the architectural firm Morgan, Walls & Clements, and it is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

Initially white-dominated, Japanese Americans integrated Leimert Park after World War II. Crenshaw Square was inspired by Japanese architecture and Tak's Coffee still resides on Crenshaw Blvd. Japanese gardens as well as elderly Japanese American residents, still exist in Leimert today.[5] With African Americans integrating Leimert Park in the 1950s, Leimert and the neighboring Crenshaw District eventually became one of the largest black middle class neighborhoods in the United States.

Despite suffering from rising crime beginning in the 1970s and sustaining damage during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Leimert Park has since experienced a resurgence as middle-class black families from other parts of Los Angeles have moved into the bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revival style houses on its tree lined streets. Unlike other parts of Los Angeles, Leimert Park remains composed of almost entirely black residents, along with the Baldwin Hills, View Park-Windsor Hills, and Ladera Heights neighborhoods, as an African American middle-class cultural district in South Los Angeles.[6]

Present day

Culture

Leimert Park neighborhood boundary sign.

Today, Leimert Park is considered the center of the contemporary African-American arts scene in Los Angeles. One resident, filmmaker John Singleton, has called it "the black Greenwich Village." It has flourishing blues and jazz clubs, venues for hip hop, and theaters for numerous dramatic performances and poetry readings. Project Blowed is the longest running hip hop open mic in the world, started in 1994 by Aceyalone and friends. It is hosted by Kaos Network, and held every Thursday night at 43rd Place and Leimert Boulevard.

Leimert Plaza Park is at the district's center, adjoined by retail shops and the Vision Theatre, and is a popular place for performances and gatherings.[7] It has a landmark cascading fountain, and a drum circle that convenes every Sunday.

The Lucy Florence Coffee House and Cultural Center came to Leimert Park in 2000, hosting an array of talent, art, and music. Lucy Florence is located at 3351 West 43rd Street @ Degnan Ave and is owned by America's Next Top Model's (Aswirl Twins) Richard and Ron Harris. The coffee house was named after their mother Lucy Florence on her 75th birthday, when it was located in Hollywood.

Another jazz venue, 5th Street Dick's Coffee and Jazz Emporium, founded by Richard Fulton in 1991, continued to be a mainstay for music lovers, chess players, and poets and comedians.

Tavis Smiley, the producer and host of National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Television shows, has production studios located in Leimert Park.

Crenshaw/LAX Line

The Leimert Park station, on the Los Angeles Metro light rail Crenshaw/LAX Line is currently under construction, and will be located near the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Vernon Avenue.[1] Nearby Leimert Plaza Park is planned to be part of a walkable corridor. A section of 43rd Place may be permanently closed to car traffic and converted to a public plaza. Some businesses may be required to have a front entrance for people strolling down the street.[8] The Crenshaw/LAX Line is another section of the public rapid transport network that is beginning to span Los Angeles County again. The line will be 8.5 miles long, running from the Expo Line, through South Los Angeles and Inglewood, near LAX, to connect to the Green Line.[1]

Real estate and redevelopment

In 2013 and 2014, resurgent home prices in Los Angeles spurred interest among young professionals to move into the area, reigniting mixed fears of gentrification and hope for increased business investment.[9]

In December 2014, Capri Capital Partners, the Chicago-based owner of the Leimert Park adjacent Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, announced redevelopment plans to add over 2 million square feet of new office space building, housing, condos, retail space and hotel rooms.[10] The plans include a pedestrian-oriented retail village that would be constructed at the southeast corner of the property, abutting the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Stocker Street. Proposed development uses within the village include including stores, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Population

A total of 11,782 people lived in Leimert Park's 1.19 square miles, according to the 2000 U.S. census—averaging 9,880 people per square mile, about the same as the population density in the city as a whole. The median age was 38, considered old as opposed to the rest of the city. The percentage of residents aged 65 and above was among the county's highest.[4]

Within the neighborhood, African Americans made up 79.6% of the population, with Latinos at 11.4%, Asian 4.9%, White 1.5% and other 3.2%. El Salvador and Mexico were the most common places of birth for the 10.7%% of the residents who were born abroad, considered a low percentage of foreign-born when compared with the city or county as a whole.[4]

The median household income in 2008 dollars was $45,865, considered average for the city but low for the county. The percentage of households earning $20,000 or less was high, compared to the county at large. The average household size of 2.2 people was low for both the city and the county. Renters occupied 54.1% of the housing units, and homeowners occupied the rest.[4]

In 2000 there were 23 families headed by single parents, or 8.7%, a rate that was low for the county and the city. There were 990 veterans, or 11.1% of the population, considered high when compared with the city overall. The percentage of veterans who served in the Vietnam War was among the county's highest.[4]

  1. View Park-Windsor Hills, California, 86.5%
  2. Gramercy Park, Los Angeles, 86.4%
  3. Leimert Park, Los Angeles, 79.6%
  4. Manchester Square, Los Angeles, 78.6%
  5. Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw, Los Angeles, 71.3%
  6. Ladera Heights, California, 71%
  7. Hyde Park, Los Angeles, 66%
  8. Chesterfield Square, Los Angeles, 58.6%
  9. West Compton, California, 57.6%
  10. Westmont, California, 57.5%

Education

Leimert Park residents aged 25 and older holding a four-year degree amounted to 55.9% of the population in 2000, about average within the city and the county; the percentage of residents aged 25 and older with some college education was high for the county.[4]

Schools within the Leimert Park boundaries are:[3][12]

Libertas College Prep (on the Tom Bradley campus)

Recreation and parks

Notable residents

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jennings, Angel (February 10, 2014) "Station identification" Los Angeles Times
  2. 1 2 "South L.A.," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  3. 1 2 3 4 The Thomas Guide, 2006, page 633
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Leimert Park," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  5. ↑ http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/leimert-park/growing-up-japanese-american-in-crenshaw-1.html
  6. ↑ Khouri, Andrew (April 30, 2014) "Soaring home prices spur a resurgence near USC " Los Angeles Times
  7. ↑ Lee, Gary (March 19, 2006) "Los Angeles Black Pride: Taking in the Retro Vibe of Leimert Park" Washington Post
  8. ↑ Reyes, Emily Alpert and Jennings, Angel (December 8, 2014) "Military retailer is Leimert Park's unwelcome neighbor" Los Angeles Times
  9. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-property-report-20140501-story.html
  10. ↑ http://buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com/2014/12/redevelopment-plans-crystallize-for.html
  11. ↑ "Black", Mapping L.A. at Los Angeles Times
  12. ↑ "Leimert Park Schools," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  13. ↑ Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks
  14. ↑ http://peoplest.lacity.org/people-st-projects-coming-2015/
  15. ↑ Valerie J. Nelson, "Wife of L.A Mayor Tom Bradley," Los Angeles Times, November 26, 2008
  16. 1 2 Gayle Pollard-Terry, "Activism, Music Intersect in Leimert Park," Los Angeles Times, December 25, 2005
  17. ↑ 9/24/07 New York Magazine
  18. ↑ Los Angeles Public Library Reference File
  19. ↑ Location of his house on Mapping L.A.
  20. ↑ Brooklyne Gipson, "Interview: Dom Kennedy Talks New Mixtape & Wanting 2Pac to Slap Funkmaster Flex," ComplexMusic, March 11, 2011

External links

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Coordinates: 34°00′28″N 118°19′38″W / 34.00778°N 118.32722°W / 34.00778; -118.32722

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