West Adams, Los Angeles, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Adams which is also known as Historic West Adams is a large district located in the center of Los Angeles, southwest of downtown Los Angeles, California. Major subdistricts include North University Park, Kinney Heights, and University Park. It includes several institutions of higher learning: the University of Southern California (University Park), Mount St. Mary's College's Doheny Campus (North University Park), and Hebrew Union College (North University Park).
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[edit] Geography
West Adams is bordered by Pico-Union, Angelus Vista and Harvard Heights on the north, the original South Los Angeles on the east, Vermont Square on the south, and Jefferson Park on the south and west. Its principal thoroughfares are Adams, Jefferson, Washington, and Exposition Boulevards, Western, Vermont, and Normandie Avenues, and Hoover and Figueroa Streets. The district is in ZIP codes 90007, 90018, 90019 with 90089 reserved for the USC campus.
[edit] Demographics
West Adams is a large area, covering 11 distinct United States Census tracts. As of the 2000 census, its population was 48,925 when the USC campus is excluded. Racial breakdown was as follows: 27.6% white, 20.0% black or African-American, 0.8% Native American, 7.7% Asian or Pacific Islander, 38.5% some other race, and 5.4% two or more races; 58.1% of persons of any race were of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity. Income and poverty figures are unreliable due to the large presence of students, many of whom are claimed as dependents by their parents, in the district.
[edit] Historic architecture
West Adams is home to one of the largest collections of historic homes west of the Mississippi River. The West Adams area was developed between 1880 and 1925, and contains many diverse architectural styles of the era. Architectural styles seen in West Adams include the Queen Anne, Shingle, Gothic Revival, Transitional Arts and Crafts, Craftsman/Ultimate Bungalow, Craftsman Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Renaissance Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, Egyptian Revival, Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical styles. West Adams boasts the only Greene and Greene house in Los Angeles. Its historic homes are frequently used as locations for movies and TV shows including CSI, Six Feet Under, The Shield, Monk, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Of Mice and Men.
[edit] History
West Adams is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, with most of its buildings erected between 1880 and 1925, including the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. It was once the wealthiest district in the city, with its Victorian mansions and sturdy Craftsman bungalows home to downtown businessmen and professors at USC. In the 1990s, three areas of West Adams were designated as Historic Preservation Overlay Zones by the city of Los Angeles, in recognition of their outstanding architectural heritage.
The development of the West Side and Hollywood, beginning in the 1920s, siphoned away much of West Adams' upper-class white population; upper-class blacks began to move in around this time, although the district was off-limits to all but the very wealthiest African-Americans. One symbol of the area's emergence as a center of black wealth at this time is the 1948 headquarters of Golden State Mutual Life, a late-period Art Deco structure at Adams and Western that housed what is still the nation's largest black-owned insurer. West Adams' transformation into an affluent black area was sped by the Supreme Court's 1948 invalidation of segregationist covenants on property ownership. The area was a favorite among black celebrities in the 1940s and 1950s; notable residents included Hattie McDaniel, Joe Louis, Little Richard and Ray Charles.
Ray Charles' business headquarters, including his RPM studio, was located at 2107 Washington Boulevard, just outside the northern edge of the district. (The intersection of Washington and Westmoreland Avenue, near the studio, is named Ray Charles Square in his honor.)
In the 1950s, the construction of the Santa Monica and Harbor Freeways obliterated much of West Adams, their routes chosen in large part to demarcate areas acceptable for black settlement and those deemed whites-only (in both cases, this was notably unsuccessful, as many African-Americans moved into Mid-City and Arlington Heights during this period.)
The 1992 Los Angeles riots largely spared West Adams' historic buildings. Mirroring changes seen throughout Los Angeles the district's Latino population had been growing but the area's architecture and proximity to USC have brought many upper-middle-class whites as well[1]. Many of the neighborhoods are experiencing a renaissance of sorts with their historic homes being restored to their previous elegance. Despite this, the neighborhood still feels the effects of widespread urban decay.
[edit] Recent developments
West Adams' designation by the city as a historic district in the late 1990s increased property values, while the Southern California real estate boom of the early 2000s has brought new prosperity to the district. The successful reforms of Los Angeles Police Department chief William J. Bratton and neighborhood involvement in Police Advisory Boards (PABs) significantly reduced crime in the area.
The projected 2010 opening of a long-delayed light-rail line from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City and Santa Monica--which will pass by USC on Exposition Boulevard and have stops in the district at Figueroa Street, Vermont Avenue, and Western Avenue--may bring even greater importance to West Adams. USC has tentatively endorsed the project, although it has expressed an interest in it running as a subway along the campus' southern edge, for aesthetic and public safety reasons. Reportedly this project to build an underground segment and station would cost 100 million dollars, in addition to the 650 million dollar cost of the entire line. USC has indicated that they would be willing to pay up to half of the 100 million dollar cost, but the LACMTA has expressed doubts that they could identify any funds to pay for this additional construction.
Many active residents of West Adams have joined together in block associations to lobby the city for services and to band together to beautify their communities and restore the elegance of their historic homes.
[edit] Landmarks
- Automobile Association of Southern California headquarters (Adams Boulevard just west of Figueroa Street)
- Felix Chevrolet (northeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa)
- Golden State Mutual Life (nation's largest black-owned insurer) headquarters (northeast corner of Adams and Western Avenue)
- Mount St. Mary's College, Doheny Campus (Adams just east of Hoover Street)
- Olympic Village, 1932 Summer Olympics (near intersection of Adams and Hoover)
- St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic church (northwest corner of Adams and Figueroa)
- St. John's Episcopal church (southwest corner of Adams and Figueroa)
- University of Southern California
[edit] External links
- WAHA West Adams Heritage Association
- KCET West Adams: Life & Times
- Los Angeles Times: Saving Harvard Heights
- Van Buren Place Community Restoration Association
- West Adams Heights/Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association
- Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association
- Restoration of a West Adams Bungalow
- Historic Preservation in Los Angeles
- University of Southern California
