Crenshaw, Los Angeles


Crenshaw, also referred to as the Crenshaw District, is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.
The neighborhood's diverse cultural history is marked by an influx of Japanese Americans after World War II and the subsequent development of a thriving African American community. By the early 1970s, African Americans were Crenshaw's majority demographic group, and the neighborhood came to be known as a hub of Black culture in Los Angeles.

History

Real estate developer George L. Crenshaw named the neighborhood's main commercial thoroughfare, Crenshaw Boulevard, after himself in 1904.
In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled segregated housing covenants to be unconstitutional in Shelley v. Kraemer, allowing people of all races to legally inhabit the once all-white community. Following World War II, a large Japanese American community established itself in the area. At its peak, the Japanese American settlement in Crenshaw was one of the largest in California, with about 8,000 residents.
African Americans began migrating to the district in the mid 1960s and became the majority ethnic group by the early 1970s. Due to a shared sense of discrimination, many Japanese-Americans formed close relationships with the African-American community. In the 1970s, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, and neighboring areas together had formed one of the largest African-American communities in the western United States.
The neighborhood's Japanese population dwindled in the following decades, dropping to 4,000 people in 1980 and 2,500 in 1990. 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." 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. Traces of Japanese influence are still visible in the neighborhood's cuisine and architecture.
Crenshaw suffered significant damage from both the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake but was able to rebound in the late 2000s with the help of redevelopment and gentrification.
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. The renovation was met with community opposition and did not happen.

Geography

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

Government

Police department

Post office

Education

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

Demographics

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.

Transportation

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

Notable places

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

Media

Literature

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

Motion picture

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.
White Men Can't Jump - One of the main characters, Sidney Deane, lives in Crenshaw.

Television

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

Special events

Notable residents