“How can people live this way?” one black resident asked. Other residents told of 20 men sharing a three-bedroom apartment in another building. One resident, who is from Mexico, said that at least one one-bedroom apartment in the Bottoms has eight men living in it. A Latino gang, Los Malditos, has claimed a part of the Bottoms as its turf.įor some of the newly arrived Spanish speakers, the aging buildings are their first homes in the United States. In Darby-Dixon, as many as 90% of the tenants in some buildings are Latino. At the time of the 1990 census, about 52% of Inglewood’s 109,602 residents were black.Īt present, officials estimate, about 55% of the city’s population of about 120,000 is Latino. Twenty years ago, like the rest of Inglewood, Darby-Dixon was predominantly African American. There are demographic changes in the Bottoms that add to the tensions.
“You get used to it,” 15-year-old resident Abraham Ortega said. Residents at times react impatiently when an outsider stops in mid-sentence to squint at a jetliner passing overhead. Since it is under a flight path for the south runway at LAX, a casual conversation outdoors is virtually impossible. Some won’t complain because they are recent immigrants and are mistrustful of English-speaking authorities. It’s not that way anymore,” said Castanon, who is the lead officer for the area.īut absentee owners of the apartment buildings rarely come to make repairs and trash routinely piles up in the alleys, residents say. “When I first got here, you always needed backup in Darby-Dixon. Neighborhood Watch groups say there is less crime, and Inglewood Police Officer Rudy Castanon said a single patrol car can handle virtually all calls for help in the Bottoms. During the year the court order was obtained, for example, the number of aggravated assaults in the area declined only slightly from the previous year.ĭespite the statistics and even though gunshots are still common there, some say the crime problem has improved. Gang-related crime grew so severe in the streets and alleys there that city officials obtained a permanent court injunction in 1998 to keep gang members from hanging out together in public.īut the effort has not had much success. The community of two-story apartment houses and duplexes has been a longtime stronghold of the Crenshaw Mafia street gang. There’s no disagreement that Darby-Dixon needs help. “What to do about Darby-Dixon is probably the hottest political football in town,” one Inglewood insider said. Redevelopment Director Jesse Lewis didn’t respond to repeated requests by The Times for an interview.
The subject of the Bottoms is a delicate one, with some at City Hall cautious about saying anything publicly. Reaching a consensus has been slowed, insiders say, because Garland Hardeman, the councilman who represented Darby-Dixon, was defeated in the June municipal election.
But I don’t know that they will.”Īt City Hall, no definite plan has emerged to replace the Home Depot solution in Darby-Dixon. “A lot of us went to City Hall to tell them to help us. “We need help,” one Spanish-speaking resident said. The disappointed folks in Darby-Dixon are hoping for another project, but they aren’t holding their breath. Construction could begin by the end of the year. The city is aggressively working to insulate about 20% of all the homes in Inglewood against the jet noise, at an average cost of $23,000 each.Īpparently deciding they couldn’t wait 18 months or more while Darby-Dixon was cleared, Home Depot officials recently found a suitable parcel for a store on Hollywood Park land on the north side of Century Boulevard. The project would have been paid for by federal and Los Angeles airport funds received by the city to mitigate jet noise by either clearing away blighted structures or insulating them against the roar of the jets. Other amenities, including a new park, were planned. The proposal to demolish many of the structures appealed to the residents because it would have given them a chance to obtain better housing elsewhere.
In addition to the failure of the attempt to attract Home Depot, there has been only limited success for a court injunction against the local street gang.
0 kommentar(er)
