The State of South Los Angeles Report Released

Convened by the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships, South Los Angeles office, Dr. Paul Ong, from the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and lead author on the recently released The State of South LA Report, presented his findings before an audience of community and stakeholders.

With support from the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships, Dr. Ong, his graduate students from the Department of Urban Planning, and the Los Angeles Urban League, conducted the one year study focused on demographics, public safety, education, housing and employment.  

The State of South LA Report was released on September 14, 2008; 15 years after UCLA published an earlier assessment of South Los Angeles neighborhoods in 1993.

While the latest report identifies several important changes that have occurred in South LA, the data also indicate that many past problems continue unchanged. Dr. Ong stated, “Most residents know their neighborhood. How has it changed over time? How is it different? Where is it different?”

• Demographics Most apparent is the demographic shifts in South LA.  Current population is approximately 884,000 making up 10% of the County. Today, 62% of that population is Latino, 31% is African American, 2% Asian, and 3% is White. Poverty in South Los Angeles is 30%, the same as in 1993, and that rate is twice what it is for Los Angeles County,  
• Education Forty three percent of South LA residents lack a high school diploma compared to 25% of residents in the County. Low educational attainment leads to lower job skills and fewer employment opportunities. Charter schools are over represented in South LA. Of 62 schools in LA County, 16 are located in South LA and represent 23% of all charter school elementary students.
• Employment Low educational attainment and a lack of nearby job opportunities have created a situation of persistent poverty for residents. 
• Default and foreclosure rates in the housing market impacted the smaller neighborhoods that comprise South LA differently. Nevertheless, South LA has suffered higher default and foreclosure rates then other typical communities.
• Property and violent crime rates The rates of property crimes are similar in both South LA and LA County, 27% and 26.3%, respectively; however, violent crime in South LA is over twice the county rate, at 14.7% and 6.3% per thousand.   

Zip codes and neighborhoods are not the same and do not have the same meaning for South LA residents. Grassroots descriptions of communities, and of South LA, vary significantly from person to person, so there is no “people's” consensus about exactly where South LA begins and ends. This creates much imprecision in discussions about the area. Yet, these definitions have meaning for area residents.  

The report can be downloaded here.

Accompanying The State of South LA Report are five policy briefs outlining the current state education, employment, public safety and foreclosures in the Park Mesa Heights neighborhood. (click to download the pdf): "Employment in Park Mesa Heights;" "Foreclosures in Park Mesa Heights;" "Public Safety in Park Mesa Heights: Analysis of LAPD Data;" "Public Safety in Park Mesa Heights: Analysis of Survey Data;" "School Achievement in Park Mesa Heights."