South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. It borders the Westside on the northwest, and Downtown LA on the northeast. West Los Angeles (also known as West LA or the Westside) comprises the Los Angeles city communities of Bel Air, Beverly Crest Downtown Los Angeles is the Central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center

In 2003, the city of Los Angeles changed the area's official name from South Central Los Angeles to South Los Angeles, hoping to blur collective memories of violence and blight. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The name "South Central" had become almost synonymous with urban decay and street crime. Urban decay is a process by which a City, or a part of a city falls into a state of disrepair Street crime is a loose term for criminal offences taking place in public places The new name is rather misleading though, since geographically, South Los Angeles would refer to the L. A. Harbor/San Pedro district. Though the city took it upon itself to change street signs and freeway signs with the new name to make it "official", and though media like the Los Angeles Times and L. The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is a daily Newspaper published in Los Angeles California and distributed A. news networks now refer to the area as South Los Angeles, the name is not very widely used. Most residents of the Los Angeles area (including residents of South Los Angeles) still use the old name. Prominent figures from South Los Angeles, such as Ice Cube, also continue to refer to the area as South Central Los Angeles. O'Shea Jackson (born June 15 1969 better known by his Stage name Ice Cube, is an American Actor, Screenwriter, producer, and

South Los Angeles is a notoriously dangerous region in the City of Los Angeles with an extensive history of gang violence, as it gave birth to dangerous gangs such as the Loco Park LxP 13, Crips, Bloods, 38th St. Gang, La Mara 18 (18th Street gang), Eastside Florencia 13, Eastside Trece 13 (Brownside), and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The Crips are a primarily but not exclusively African American gang founded in Los Angeles California in 1969 mainly by 16-year-old Raymond The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles The 38th Street gang is a Mexican Street gang from South Central, Los Angeles. 18th Street Gang is a largely- Hispanic Los Angeles -based Street gang. Mara Salvatrucha are large gangs in Northern Central America and the United States. A majority of gang wars in Los Angeles have taken place there, as well as conflicts between African-Americans and Latinos usually occurring in the streets and in schools.

Contents 1 Geographic definition 2 History 2.1 19th Century-1948 2.2 1948-1960s 2.3 1970s-1990s 2.4 2000s 3 Landmarks 4 Communities 5 People from South Los Angeles 6 References 7 External links

Geographic definition

The name "South Central" originally referred to an area bounded roughly by Main Street on the west and Washington Boulevard on the north, and sharply by Slauson Avenue (which had Santa Fe Railroad track running alongside it) on the south and Alameda Street (including Southern Pacific Railroad track) on the east. The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. Central Avenue bisects this area from north to south. Along with Watts several miles to the south, this corridor was the only district-scale area within the city in which African-Americans could purchase property prior to 1948. While some African-Americans rented and sometimes even owned property in other areas of the city, they were generally confined to single streets or small neighborhoods.

Since the 1950s, the definition of "South Central" has gradually expanded to include all of the areas of the city of Los Angeles (and small unincorporated pockets of Los Angeles County) lying south of the Santa Monica Freeway, east of the city limits of Culver City and north of the Century Freeway. In the US state of California, Interstate 10, the major east-west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs east from Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County California. Interstate 105 (abbreviated I-105, and colloquially referred to as The 105 or the one-oh-five) is an interstate highway in southern Some incorporated cities outside of L. A. city limits lying east of Alameda Street are considered identifiable with South L. A. to some extent by their urban or "inner city" characteristics. The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis

The demography of South Los Angeles has been changing since 1990, when Hispanic immigrants from Mexico and Central America arrived in number to buy or rent apartments and homes, some of which were vacated by African-American renters. Hispanic (hispano hispánico hispânico Hispānus adjective from ''Hispānia'', the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula) is a term that historically The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. In the 2000 census, 55% of residents in the designated area of South L. A. were Latino, while 40% were African American. A large percentage of small stores and shops are owned by Asian-American immigrants, especially Koreans and Indians. Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry. They include sub-ethnic groups such as Chinese Americans Filipino Americans Indian The Korean people are an East Asian Ethnic group. Most Koreans speak the Korean language. The Demographics of India are overall remarkably diverse India's population of approximately 1 Filipinos have also been part of the area and American Indians are a sizable percentage of apartment rental tenants. Filipinos or the Filipino people are the citizens of the Philippines. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Prior to the 1990s, the area was predominantly black. ^[1] The chief reasons for the population shifts were people moving away from crime and gang violence, and people coming in through immigration.

History

19th Century-1948

South LA contains some of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, featuring many spectacular examples of Victorian and Craftsman architecture in West Adams. The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of Architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's own hands and skill West Adams, also known as Historic West Adams, is a large district located in the center of Los Angeles, California, southwest of Downtown and It is home to the University of Southern California, founded in 1880, as well as the Doheny Campus of Mount St. The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Mary's College, which was founded in 1920. The 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games took place near the USC campus at neighboring Exposition Park, which hosts the Los Angeles Coliseum. The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly Exposition Park is located in University Park Los Angeles California, across the street from the University of Southern California. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports Stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles California at Exposition Until the 1920s, West Adams was one of the most desirable areas of the city. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Then development of the Wilshire Boulevard corridor drew Los Angeles' development to the west of downtown.

As the wealthy were building stately mansions in West Adams and Jefferson Park, the white working class was establishing itself in Crenshaw and Hyde Park. West Adams, also known as Historic West Adams, is a large district located in the center of Los Angeles, California, southwest of Downtown and Jefferson Park is a district in southwestern Los Angeles California. The Crenshaw district is located in southwestern Los Angeles, California, United States. Hyde Park is a district in South Los Angeles in Los Angeles California. Affluent blacks were somewhat less restricted than other blacks in their ability to purchase property, and they gradually moved into West Adams and Jefferson Park as the decades passed.

At the same time, the area of modest bungalows and low-rise commercial buildings along Central Avenue emerged as the heart of the black community in southern California. It had one of the first jazz scenes in the western U. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States S. , with trombonist Kid Ory a prominent resident. Edward "Kid" Ory ( December 25, 1886 &ndash January 23, 1973) was a Jazz trombonist and Bandleader Under racially restrictive covenants, blacks were allowed to own property only within the Main-Slauson-Alameda-Washington box and in Watts, as well as in small enclaves elsewhere in the city. The working- and middle-class blacks who poured into Los Angeles during the Great Depression and for jobs during World War II found themselves penned into what was becoming a severely overcrowded neighborhood. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including During the war, blacks faced such dire housing shortages that the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles built the virtually all-black Pueblo del Rio project, which ran against its previous policy of integrating all of its housing projects. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles is the Public housing agency for Los Angeles California.

1948-1960s

When the Supreme Court banned the legal enforcement of race-oriented restrictive covenants in 1948's Shelley v. Kraemer, blacks began to move into areas outside the increasingly overcrowded Slauson-Alameda-Washington-Main settlement area. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. A real covenant is a Legal obligation imposed in a Deed by the seller upon the buyer of Real estate to do or not to do something Shelley v Kraemer, 334 US 1, ( 1948) is a United States Supreme Court decision involving the enforceability of Restrictive covenants For a time in the early 1950s, southern Los Angeles became the site of significant racial violence, with whites bombing, firing into, and burning crosses on the lawns of homes purchased by black families south of Slauson. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive In an escalation of behavior that began in the 1920s, white gangs in nearby cities such as South Gate and Huntington Park routinely accosted blacks who traveled through white areas. South Gate is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Huntington Park is a city in Los Angeles County California, United States. The black mutual protection clubs that formed in response to these assaults became the basis of the region's fearsome street gangs. Gangsters redirects here For the computer game see Gangsters (video game.

As in most urban areas, 1950s freeway construction radically altered the geography of southern Los Angeles. Freeway routes tended to reinforce traditional segregation lines. The Harbor Freeway ran just to the west of Main Street, and the Santa Monica Freeway just to the north of Washington Boulevard. In the US state of California, Interstate 10, the major east-west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs east from The Marina Freeway was originally to run near Slauson Avenue all the way to the Orange County line, but was deemed redundant and went unbuilt except for its westernmost portions. State Route 90 (SR 90 is a State highway in Southern California, United States. Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States.

However well the freeways worked in moving cars around, they were decidedly unsuccessful as instruments of segregation. The explosive growth of suburbs, most of which barred blacks by a variety of methods, provided the opportunity for whites in neighborhoods bordering black districts to leave en masse. South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California. The spread of blacks throughout the area was achieved in large part through "blockbusting," a technique whereby real estate speculators would buy a home on an all-white street, sell or rent it to a black family, and then buy up the remaining homes from whites at cut-rate prices and sell them at a hefty profit to housing-hungry blacks. Blockbusting was a practice used by Real estate agents and developers in the United States to encourage white property owners to sell their homes by giving the impression that

This process accelerated after the Watts Riots of 1965. The term Watts Riots refers to a large-scale Race riot which lasted six days in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles California, in August The riots resulted in an abandonment of southern Los Angeles by white residents and merchants. Middle-class blacks also left the area, moving to the north and west. By the late 1960s most of Los Angeles south of Pico Boulevard and east of La Cienega Boulevard had become overwhelmingly black and more poor. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Areas wealthy (Baldwin Hills, West Adams) and impoverished (Watts) alike were referred to under the umbrella name of "South Central," even if they were 10 miles from the intersection of Vernon and Central Avenues. This article is about the district in Los Angeles For the BET reality TV show see Baldwin Hills (TV series. The Santa Monica Freeway formed the northern boundary of the "new" South Central, primarily dividing the middle-class blacks of Mid-Wilshire from the poor and working-class blacks to the south. Mid-Wilshire is a district in the City of Los Angeles California.

1970s-1990s

Beginning in the 1970s, the precipitous decline of the area's manufacturing base resulted in a loss of the jobs that had allowed skilled union workers to have a middle class life. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The downtown Los Angeles' service sector, which had long been dominated by unionized African Americans earning relatively high wages, replaced most black workers with newly arrived Central American immigrants.

Widespread unemployment, poverty and street crime resulted in South Central. Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life including food clothing shelter and safe Drinking water, and Street crime is a loose term for criminal offences taking place in public places Street gangs, such as the Crips and Bloods, rose to great notoriety. Gangsters redirects here For the computer game see Gangsters (video game. The Crips are a primarily but not exclusively African American gang founded in Los Angeles California in 1969 mainly by 16-year-old Raymond The Bloods is one of the street Gangs originally founded in Los Angeles They became even more powerful with money from drugs, especially the crack cocaine trade, dominated by gangs in the 1980s. Crack cocaine or crack is a solid smokable form of Cocaine. It is a freebase form of cocaine that can be made using baking soda ( Sodium bicarbonate The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. By the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began in South Central and spread throughout the city, South Central had become a byword for urban decay. The Los Angeles riots of 1992, also known as the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, were sparked on April 29, 1992 when a jury Its bad reputation was broadcast by movies such as Colors, South Central, Menace II Society, Friday, and in particular, South Central native John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood. Colors is a 1988 Crime film starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall and directed by Dennis Hopper. South Central is a 1992 Drama Film, written and directed by Steve Anderson Menace II Society is a 1993 hood film and the directorial debut of twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes. Friday is a 1995 dramedy Buddy film directed by F Gary Gray. Starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long John Daniel Singleton (born January 6, 1968 in Los Angeles California) is an American Academy Award -nominated Film director Boyz N the Hood is an Academy Award -nominated 1991 Film written and directed by John Singleton. The rap group N.W.A.'s album Straight Outta Compton also promoted South Central's bad image. NWA (also known as Niggaz with Attitudes) was a Compton, California -based hip hop group widely considered one of the seminal acts of the Straight Outta Compton is the second album by Compton -based hip hop group N

2000s

Despite the improvements in the local economy thanks to financial aid to introduce new retail stores and other employment development to the area, South (Central) Los Angeles remains known for its notorious gangs. In recent news, the tension between Black and Latino gangs have led to increased shootings/murders since the early-2000s. The percentage of African-American residents in South Los Angeles is about a quarter of what it was in 1990, as Latin American (i. e. Guatemalan, Salvadoran, Honduran and even more Mexican) immigrants became the majority alike much of the older sections of Los Angeles.

Landmarks

• The University of Southern California
• Shrine Auditorium
• Automobile Club of Southern California
• Watts Towers
• Exposition Park
  • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
  • Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
  • California African-American Museum
  • Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
  • California Science Center
    • IMAX Theatre at California Science Center
  • Exposition Park Rose Garden
  • Los Angeles Swim Stadium
  • Exposition Park Intergenerational Community Center (EPICC)
  • California National Guard Armory

Communities

South Los Angeles also refers to a district under the same name of City of Los Angeles east of South Park. The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles California, USA. The Automobile Club of Southern California was founded December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles as one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving The Watts Towers or Nuestro Pueblo in the Watts district of Los Angeles California, is a collection of 17 interconnected structures The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports Stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles California at Exposition The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1913 as the Museum of History Science The California African American Museum ( CAAM) is a museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is a multipurpose sports Arena in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles California at Exposition The California Science Center (sometimes spelled California ScienCenter) is a state agency and museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles IMAX (short for Image MAXimum is a Film format created by Canada 's IMAX Corporation that has the capacity to display images of far greater size and See also South Park (disambiguation 052607-010-SouthParkLAjpg|thumb|250px|none|The

Communities in South Los Angeles include:

• Arlington Park
• Athens on the Hill
• Baldwin Hills
  • Baldwin Hills Estates
  • Baldwin Village
  • Baldwin Vista
• Cameo Plaza
• Canterbury Knolls
• Century Palms
• Chesterfield Square
• Crenshaw
• Exposition Park
• Gramercy Park
• Green Meadows
• Hyde Park
• Jefferson Park
• King Estates
• Leimert Park
• Magnolia Square
• Manchester Square
• Mid-Town
• Morningside Circle
• View Heights[1]
• Vermont Knolls
• Vermont Park
• Vermont Square
• Village Green
• Watts
• West Adams
  • Kinney Heights
  • North University Park
    • Figueroa Corridor
  • University Park
• West Alameda

Although the following are incorporated cities or unincorporated communities, they are often considered part of the South Los Angeles area despite being outside of the Los Angeles city limits:

Cities:

• Compton
• Huntington Park
• Inglewood
• Lynwood
• South Gate
• Vernon

unincorporated Los Angeles County communities:

• Athens
• Florence
• View Park-Windsor Hills
• Willowbrook
• Westmont
• Lennox

People from South Los Angeles

• Faint (South Central District)
• Larry Elder (Pico-Union and Crenshaw)
• Tracy "Ice-T" Marrow (Crenshaw)
• Eric Dolphy (Watts)
• James Hahn (Morningside Park)
• Hampton Hawes
• O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson (Crenshaw)
• Keyshawn Johnson (Crenshaw)
• Arthur Lee (Crenshaw)
• Charles Mingus (Watts)
• John Singleton (South Central District)
• Darryl Strawberry (Crenshaw)
• Maxine Waters
• Barry White (Watts)
• Macadoshis (South Los Angeles)
• Esther Williams (Inglewood)
• South Central Cartel (South Central District)
• Ralph Bunche (Jefferson High School)
• Big Syke (Inglewood)
• Mack 10 (Inglewood)
• Paul Pierce (Inglewood)
• Steve Smith (Lynwood)
• Pete Weber (Lynwood)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic (Lynwood)
• Tyra Banks (Inglewood)
• Tyrese Gibson (Watts)
• Omarion (Inglewood)
• Marques Houston (Inglewood)
• Regina King (Windsor Hills)
• Saaphyri Windsor (Crenshaw)
• Tom Araya (South Gate)
• Baron Davis (Compton)
• Jayceon "The Game" Taylor (Compton)
• Serena Williams (Compton)
• Venus Williams (Compton)
• Tayshaun Prince (Compton)
• Eric "Eazy-E" Wright (Compton)
• Andre "Dr. Dre" Young (Compton)
• Andre "Dresta" Wicker (Compton)
• Arlandis "B.G. Knocc Out" Hinton (Compton)
• Eldon "E-9" Peters (Inglewood)

References

External links

• South Los Angeles is at coordinates 33°55′39″N 118°16′38″W / 33.9275, -118.27722 (South Los Angeles)Coordinates: 33°55′39″N 118°16′38″W / 33.9275, -118.27722 (South Los Angeles)

A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.

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