Ever Walked South to Leimert Park?

by Tony Chavira

When I was younger, the Crenshaw Redevelopment District was out of my radius of expertise. When I heard that Leimert Park was a famous, historical place, I was confused. Why hadn’t I heard about it from East L.A.? Why did I known about The Grove and 3rd Street Promenade, but not Leimert Park? I never hear about tourists who visit the area on Crenshaw from Exposition south to Vernon. Do neighborhoods like Leimert Park get completely overlooked while federally-allocated redevelopment funds get diverted to the revitalization of Bunker Hill or Silverlake?

Walk south from the monolithic West Los Angeles Church of God in Christ, grab a hot dog at Earle’s Grill, and head to the edge of one-and-a-half-square-mile Leimert Park. Most of the raw details about the area can be found on its Wikipedia page or the local advocacy’s conservation page, but Leimert Park is so much more than these details.

I was first interested in visiting the community when I discovered that it had been designed by masterplanners Olmstead & Olmstead, the same guys who did Central Park in New York City. But the further I walked through the neighborhood, the more disturbed I felt that I hadn’t heard of it. For art lovers, it has been a hub of creativity since Alonzo Davis moved there in the 1960s. For jazz lovers, the music streams through the community and builds to the annual jazz festival. The homes turn Leimert Park into a living museum, full of true Spanish colonial and mid-20th century modernist architecture. Shops are a mix of traditional brick-laid and post-deco, while the Vision Theater renovation will soon bring this historical cinema and stage treasure back to Southern California.

But lots of neighborhoods have amazing spaces and small businesses. What’s strikes me most is that everyone in the community uses Leimert Park. None of this “I visit Griffith Park every once in a while,” or “Sometimes I’ll jog through the park by my house.” The community, essentially financially abandoned by the city in the 1950s, lives and breathes through people using and enjoying their civic space. You can’t avoid glancing at a mural, metal or stone sculpture, print on the sidewalk, or plaque with a famous quote or commemoration. Anyone can stroll through the courtyard, which is owned by the city, and everyone knows where it is. You can even rent it out for special occasions. Leimart Park Plaza is always bustling, as if it were anywhere in the world except Los Angeles.

But why is that? More important, why is it that Los Angeles has so few walkable, interesting neighborhoods that have substance while retaining their original style? Here’s why: when prices shoot up, old residents get shoved out while new residents warp the original intent of the spaces for their own needs. Neighborhoods like Larchmont, Old Town Pasadena, Echo Park, or Culver City get “discovered,” then quickly slip into rampant gentrification, some to the point of kitsch.

Why is it that Los Angeles has so few walkable, interesting neighborhoods that have substance while retaining their original style? This same community has turned Leimert Park into a contentious issue for the city of Los Angeles: how do you build on a great neighborhood while retaining its style? You want to address the issues that the neighborhood brings up, but you don't want to make the place "too nice," or else the weekend visitors will push out the current residents. To put it bluntly, when prices shoot up, old residents get shoved out. Who knows what the new residents will change the space into, but one thing's for sure: for better or for worse, new residents always warp the original intent of spaces for their own needs. Neighborhoods like Larchmont, Old Town Pasadena, Echo Park, or Culver City tend to be "discovered," then quickly slip into rampant gentrification, some to the point of kitsch.

So what will happen when the plans for redevelopment begin to take shape around Leimert Park?  This question looms heavily, as the Expo Line is installed on Exposition and Crenshaw. Since Leimert Park falls in a Federal Empowerment Zone (meaning that local businesses and development will get tax incentives to hire local people), there is still an incentive to invest in the community. But what will happen if the community re-shapes itself? As it continues to grow while the economy continues to flail, the city and the community will need to make some tough choices about how to keep the soul of the neighborhood. Different residents have different needs for a public space, and if the current ones get priced out of their homes and shops, the new ones can use the rules of the Empowerment Zone to reshape the community as they like. You will see the ambitions of the developer clash with the needs of residents fighting to keep their historic, masterplanned community as it’s been for the past 60 years. If Leimert Park is truly “discovered,” the threat of change (or worse, full-blown gentrification) will become more real. Remember the Farmers Market before The Grove was built?

There are many plans for this area, and almost as many agencies as plans. Save Leimert is trying to get Historical Preservation Overlay Zone designation, which can severely limit change. The Community Redevelopment Agency has completed a “Design, Development & Marketability” study, which residents fear may turn the neighborhood into a Caruso-style mega-development. The Urban Studio plan seeks to build and design community out to the north (conveniently toward the Expo Line), and seem to be using public feedback to build a case for spurring development. Unsurprisingly, just about all of their projects in the area are on hold until our economic crisis is over.

But what happens once the Expo Line is completed? Can Leimert Park keep its style, substance and soul despite the economic meltdown?

As long as the community is vocal, they will have the opportunity to shape their own destiny. But only time will reveal all the political and economic motivations influencing whether Crenshaw becomes a giant super-development or whether Leimert Park can adapt to the changes that the Expo Line will bring on its own.

Until then, head there and find your own favorite neighborhood spot. Just check out the Leimert Park Beat if you need a suggestion.

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