Leimert Park, Los Angeles

Houses along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in eastern Leimert Park

Leimert Park is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California roughly bounded by Rodeo Road on the north, 4th Avenue and Roxton Avenue on the east, Vernon Avenue on the south, and Crenshaw Boulevard on the west. Crenshaw District lies to the south, View Park to the west, Vermont Square to the east, and Jefferson Park to the north. The district's principal thoroughfare is Leimert Boulevard, which bisects the neighborhood from northeast to southwest. Leimert Park's ZIP code is 90008.

History

Developed by Walter H. Leimert (for whom it is named) beginning in 1928 and designed by the Olmsted brothers (sons of New York Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmstead), Leimert Park was one of the first comprehensively planned communities in Southern California designed for upper and middle-income families, and was considered a model of urban planning for its time: automobile traffic near schools and churches was minimized, utility wires were buried or hidden from view in alleys, and densely planted trees lined its streets. Walter Leimert envisioned a self-sufficient community, with a town square, theatre and retail shopping. Leimert Park became a desirable community and one of the first to have a Home Owners' Association.

Today, Leimert Park is considered the center of the African-American arts scene in Los Angeles, with flourishing blues and jazz clubs; as well as venues for hip hop and numerous dramatic performances and poetry readings. (One resident, filmmaker John Singleton, has called it "the black Greenwich Village.") The park at the district's center, adjoined by shops and a theater, is a popular place for performances and gatherings.

The intersection of 43rd and Degnan at the south end of Leimert Park Village is home to the steeple of the Vision Theatre, a park with its landmark cascading fountain and a drum circle that convenes every Sunday.

Project Blowed, hosted by Kaos Network, is the longest running hip hop open mic in the world; started in 1994 by Aceyalone and friends, it is held every Thursday night at 43rd Place and Leimert Blvd.

Leimert Park neighborhood sign

The World Stage is the hub of jazz and literary activity in Leimert Park. Founded by the late jazz drummer Billy Higgins, and poet/community arts activist Kamau Daáood in 1989, it hosts the world renowned^{[citation needed]} Anansi Writers Workshop (notable alumni include Michael Datcher (Raising Fences), Ruth Forman, Derrick I.M. Gilbert, Jenoyne Adams (Selah's Bed) and Peter J. Harris) and has featured in either master class or informal jam sessions jazz legends Max Roach, Ron Carter, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders and contemporary artists, such as Geri Allen.

The Lucy Florence Coffee House and Cultural Center came to Leimert Park in 2000, hosting an array of Talent, Art and music. Lucy Florence is located at 3351 West 43rd Street @ Degnan and is owned by the America's Next Top Model (Aswirl Twins) Richard and Ron Harris. Lucy Florence was named after their mother on her 75th birthday, when Lucy Florence was located in Hollywood.

Another jazz venue, 5th Street Dick's Coffee and Jazz Emporium, founded by Richard Fulton in 1991, continued to be a mainstay for music lovers, chess players and poets and comedians.

Tavis Smiley, host of a national public radio and TV show, has his studios in Leimert Park.

Initially white-dominated (it was in this neighborhood in January 1947 that the bisected and mutilated body of Elizabeth Short, the victim of the infamous Black Dahlia murder, was found in a vacant lot on the 3800 block of South Norton Avenue), Leimert Park and the neighboring Crenshaw District eventually became one of the largest black middle class neighborhoods in the United States.

Despite suffering from rising crime beginning in the 1970s and sustaining damage during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Leimert Park has experienced a resurgence in recent years as middle-class black families from other parts of Los Angeles have settled down in the Spanish Colonial style homes and bungalows that line its leafy streets. Unlike other parts of Los Angeles, Leimert Park remains almost entirely black, with a minuscule Latino population, due in part because, along with Baldwin Hills, View Park-Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights, Leimert Park is a black middle-class neighborhood maintaining itself in South Los Angeles.

Demographics

Per the United States Census of 2000, for which Leimert Park is roughly larger than tracts #2343 and #2342, the district had a population of 8,000 and had the highest percentage of African American residents of any census tract in the entire Western United States. Racial and ethnic representation was as follows: 1.7% white, 91.7% black or African-American, 0.3% Native American, 1.2% Asian or Pacific Islander, 1.4% some other race, and 3.6% of two or more races. 3.5% of respondents of all races were of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Median household income was $21,443, median family income was $36,709, and per capita income was $11,253; 36.1% of individuals and 33.9% of families were below the federal poverty line.

Landmarks

The former Leimert Park Theater in 1972 when it was a Jehovah's Witness church

• Vision Theater
• Lucy Florence Cultural Center
• Fifth Street Dick's

Notable residents

• John Singleton
• Eddie "Aceyalone" Hayes is an area rapper and resident, refers to the park in songs multiple times.
• Dom Kennedy, rapper
• Co$$, rapper
• Tom Bradley, Former Los Angeles Mayor, lived in Leimert Park until his death in 1998. His home has a marker noting its famous resident.
• Ray Charles
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Mark Bradford, artist known for grid-like abstract paintings combining collage with paints, incorporates found objects from around his home in Leimert Park.
• Carl C. Rasmussen (1901–52), Los Angeles City Council member and Danish Lutheran minister

Education

The area is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Schools include:

• Tom Bradley Environmental Science and Humanities Magnet
• 42nd Street Elementary
• Audubon Middle School
• Susan Miller Dorsey High School
• Crenshaw High School
• View Park Preparatory Accelerated High School

Appearances in the media

• The popular '90s sitcom Moesha took place in Leimert Park.
• The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
• The jazz club scene in the film Collateral (2004) by Michael Mann (film director)
• John Singleton's 2001 film Baby Boy features Leimert Park prominently throughout the movie.
• A Thin Line Between Love & Hate was filmed in Leimert Park area.
• Tyra Banks's America's Next Top Model 2006 (show) featuring Leimert Park's Aswirl Twins (Ron and Richard Harris).
• In the UPN/CW television sitcom Girlfriends, the character Maya Wilkes is a Leimert Park resident.

See also

• South Central Los Angeles

External links

• Leimert Park: The Story of a Village in South Central Los Angeles is a documentary film about the Leimert Park, released on DVD, May 2008
• Leimert Park Beat: "The Soul of Los Angeles" is an online community focused on Leimert Park and the surrounding area of South Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative site for Leimert Park project area
• Los Angeles Times Neighborly Advice column: "Activism, music intersect in Leimert Park" (25 Dec 2005)
• Washington Post: Los Angeles's Black Pride, (19 Mar 2006)
• Curbed LA: West Adams on the Low Down (23 July 2007
• LA City Beat: Go to the Park, Leimert Village is a cultural mecca for everyone (19 May 2005)
• LAist: Photo Essay: Rally Against Injustice (Jena 6 - 21 Sept 2007)
• Los Angeles Black Pride: Taking in the Retro Vibe of Leimert Park, Washington Post, March 19, 2006
• Historic American Buildings Survey, 1972. Liemert Park Theater