WikiMini

Crenshaw, Los Angeles

Crenshaw
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Crenshaw neighborhood sign located at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard & Slauson Avenue.
Crenshaw neighborhood sign located at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard
& Slauson Avenue.
Nickname: 
The 'Shaw[1]
Crenshaw is located in Western Los Angeles
Crenshaw
Crenshaw
Coordinates: 34°01′05″N 118°20′26″W / 34.01810°N 118.34064°W / 34.01810; -118.34064
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyLos Angeles
CityLos Angeles
Time zonePacific
ZIP Code
90008
Area Code323

Crenshaw, also referred to as the Crenshaw District, is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.[2][3]

In the post–World War II era, a Japanese American community was established in Crenshaw. African Americans started migrating to the district in the mid 1960s, and by the early 1970s were the majority.[4]

The Crenshaw Boulevard commercial corridor has had many different cultural backgrounds throughout the years,[5] but it is still "the heart of African American commerce in Los Angeles".[6]

History

[edit]

After courts ruled segregation covenants to be unconstitutional, the area opened up to many different people. In the post-World War II era, a large Japanese American settlement ensued, which can still be found along Coliseum Street, east and west of Crenshaw Boulevard.[7]

African Americans started migrating to the district in the mid 1960s, and by the early 1970s later were the majority.[4] Due to a shared sense of discrimination, many Japanese-Americans had formed close relationships with the African-American community.[7]

There was an area Japanese school called Dai-Ichi Gakuen.[7] Around 1970, Dai-Ichi Gakuen had a peak of 700 students.[7] At At that time, Crenshaw was one of the largest Japanese-American settlements in California, with about 8,000 residents. [7]

Beginning in the 1970s the Japanese American community began decreasing in size and Japanese-American businesses began leaving. Scott Shibuya Brown stated that "some say" the effect was a "belated response" to the 1965 Watts riots and that "several residents say a wave of anti-Japanese-American sentiment began cropping up in the area, prompting further departures."[7] Eighty-two-year-old Jimmy Jike was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in 1993, stating that it was mainly because the residents' children, after attending universities, moved away.[7]

In the 1970s, Crenshaw, Leimert Park and neighboring areas together had formed one of the largest African-American communities in the western United States.

By 1980, there were 4,000 Japanese ethnic residents, half of the previous size.[7] By 1990 there were 2,500 Japanese-Americans, mostly older residents. By 1993, the community was diminishing in size, with older Japanese Americans staying but with younger ones moving away. That year, Dai-Ichi Gakuen had only 15 students. In the 90s there began a shift to a new generation of Japanese Americans moving back into the neighborhood.[7]

Crenshaw had suffered significant damage from both the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake[8] but was able to rebound in the late 2000s with the help of redevelopment and gentrification.[9]

In 2018, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall had been approved for a major renovation plan, that would have included apartments, shops, and more restaurants.[10] The renovation was met with community opposition and did not happen.[11]

Geography

[edit]

In 1996, the Los Angeles Times defined Crenshaw as "the area bounded by the Santa Monica Freeway on the north, Van Ness Avenue on the east, Slauson Avenue on the south and La Brea Avenue on the west. [12] In 2012, the Los Angeles Times reiterated that "the Santa Monica Freeway, completed in 1964, created an imposing barrier between the Crenshaw District" and neighborhoods to the north.[13]

The city has also installed a neighborhood sign at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue.[14]

Mural of African-American Progress and apartment complexes, along Crenshaw Boulevard

Government

[edit]

Police department

[edit]

Post office

[edit]

Education

[edit]

Public schools are operated by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

Demographics

[edit]

In 2006, the population of Crenshaw was around 27,600. In 1996, there was a demographic shift increase in which many middle and lower-class blacks and Latinos are migrating to cities in the Inland Empire as well as cities in the Antelope Valley sections of Southern California as a form of gentrification.[18]

Transportation

[edit]

The K Line runs between Expo/Crenshaw station and Redondo Beach station, running generally north-south along Crenshaw Boulevard.[19][20]

Notable places

[edit]
Googie architecture of the former Holiday Bowl in 2002 before converting into a Starbucks

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

[edit]

Media

[edit]

Literature

[edit]

The novel Southland, by Nina Revoyr, is set in the Crenshaw neighborhood.[24]

Motion picture

[edit]

Boyz n the Hood - This was the main setting in the film as a boy is sent to live with his father in Crenshaw and experiences its booming gang culture.[25]

White Men Can't Jump - One of the main characters, Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes), lives in Crenshaw.[26]

Television

[edit]

All American - The main character, Spencer James, lives in Crenshaw.[27]

Special events

[edit]

Notable residents

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Japanese and Blacks, Sharing the 'Shaw", News and Notes, NPR News, August 11, 2005
  2. ^ "District Map & CA-37 Overview". November 30, 2015. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  3. ^ "Southwest Community Police Station".
  4. ^ a b Kurashige, Scott (January 30, 2014). "Growing Up Japanese American in Crenshaw and Leimert Park". Communities. KCET. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  5. ^ Meares, Hadley (2019-05-17). "How Crenshaw became black LA's main street". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2019-05-18.
  6. ^ Robinson-Jacobs, Karen (May 2, 2001). "Noticing a Latin Flavor in Crenshaw". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Brown, Scott Shibuya (October 3, 1993). "Crenshaw: Littler Tokyo : Although their children have grown and gone, older Japanese-Americans still evince pride, loyalty in their changing community". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  8. ^ Feldman, Paul (1994-01-22). "Quake Deals Riot Areas Another Disastrous Blow : Aftermath: Many homes and businesses are declared unsafe in neighborhoods still reeling from 1992 unrest". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  9. ^ Easter, Makeda (January 30, 2019). "Destination Crenshaw art project aims to reclaim the neighborhood for black L.A." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  10. ^ Barragan, Bianca (June 18, 2018) "Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza redevelopment wins City Council approval" Curbed LA
  11. ^ Vincent, Roger (June 15, 2020). "Developer drops plan to buy Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza and add offices, not housing". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ "Report Offers Selling Points for Crenshaw District Growth". Los Angeles Times. May 29, 1996. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  13. ^ Hawthorne, Christoper (September 16, 2012). "Crenshaw's Line of Vision". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Street view of Neighborhood Sign". Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Southwest Community Police Station". LAPD Online. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  16. ^ "Crenshaw Post Office". USPS.com. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Celerity Schools". celerityschools.org. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  18. ^ Mu'min, Nijla (September 20, 2015). "Calm before the storm of gentrification". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  19. ^ Sumers, Brian (January 21, 2014). "Metro breaks ground on new $2 billion L.A. Crenshaw/LAX Line". Daily Breeze. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  20. ^ "Crenshaw Corridor Specific Plan" (PDF). City of Los Angeles. April 19, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  21. ^ "Urban renewal project in L.A. begets blight instead". Los Angeles Times. April 28, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  22. ^ "Game Over For Holiday Bowl?". November 21, 2008. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  23. ^ "Monument Search Results Page". Cityplanning.lacity.org. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  24. ^ "Fiction Book Review: SOUTHLAND by Nina Revoyr, Author, Dennis Cooper, Editor . Akashic $15.95 (348p) ISBN 978-1-888451-41-2". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  25. ^ "Boyz N The Hood". siskelfilmcenter.org. Gene Siskel Film Center. Retrieved 8 July 2024. In his riveting directorial debut, Singleton follows Jason "Tre" Styles III (Cuba Gooding Jr.) as he relocates to South Central LA's Crenshaw neighborhood to live with his father.
  26. ^ "White Men Can't Jump".
  27. ^ Petski, Denise (May 11, 2018). "The CW Picks Up 'Charmed' & 'Roswell' Reboots, 'TVD'/'Originals Offshoot, 'In The Dark' & Greg Berlanti Pilot To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 23, 2018. The wins, losses and struggles of two families from vastly different worlds — Crenshaw and Beverly Hills — begin to collide. The smart and charming son of a single mother, Spencer is a talented athlete and A+ student who must learn to deal with a host of emotions when he transfers from Crenshaw High to Beverly Hills High.
  28. ^ "Dr Martin Luther King Jr. celebrated at Kingdom Day Parade". abc7.com. January 17, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  29. ^ Flores, Jessica (2019-10-22). "As South LA changes, Destination Crenshaw is 'absolutely necessary'". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  30. ^ Axelrod, Jeremiah B. C. (Occidental College). "The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of Multiethnic Los Angeles." The Journal of American History, 12/2008. p. 909-910. Cited: p. 910.
  31. ^ Segal, Edward. "Valley Professor June Edmonds named Guggenheim Fellow," The Valley Star, May 19, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  32. ^ Zorka, Zoe (2019-04-02). "Remembering the Business of Nipsey Hussle: From Entertainer to Entrepreneur". The Source. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  33. ^ Blay, Zeba (April 4, 2019). "Nipsey Hussle's Work In The Black Community Went Deeper Than You Think". HuffPost. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  34. ^ Jennings, Angel. "Nipsey Hussle had a vision for South L.A. It all started with a trip to Eritrea". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  35. ^ Tafur, Vic (May 21, 2011). "NFL star DeSean Jackson talks bullying in Oakland". SFGate. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  36. ^ "Darryl Strawberry Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  37. ^ Glicksman, Ben (December 21, 2010). "Crenshaw football star De'Anthony Thomas has Hollywood flair". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crenshaw, Los Angeles.