A Closer Look at Why South Los Angeles Did Not Become a Promise Zone

South Los Angeles, California

Update: On June 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that South Los Angeles would be designated as a Promise Zone during the third round designations. This designation will bring greater access to federal grants and other resources to members of the community. It also makes Los Angeles, the only city in the nation with two designation within its boundaries.

When one hears or reads the words, “South Los Angeles,” more often than not, a negative stigma is associated with this geographical location. Drugs, high crime rates, and poverty almost immediately come to mind. While there is truth to this, we often fail to question why the area is affected by these negative vices.

To formulate an answer, one would have to look back at the history of South Los Angeles, one that includes segregation, redlining, riots, a crack epidemic, and racially restrictive housing covenants. These events, as well as different policies that were put in place, help explain the existent economic situation of the community and its current social fabric.

Renewed hope was given in 2013, when President Obama announced the Promise Zones initiative. Promise Zones seek to partner with high-poverty urban, rural, and tribal communities to create jobs, increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, and reduce violent crime.

South Los Angeles, California

On January 9th 2014, President Obama announced the first round of designates. Los Angeles, as one of the chosen cities, was subsequently awarded $36 million in federal grants. These social and education services were to stretch across the neighborhoods of Hollywood, East Hollywood, Koreatown, Pico Union, and Westlake.

Given its need, why did South Los Angeles not become a Promise Zone? The following criteria may be key in the exclusion of this community:

• Promise Zones boundaries must encompass a population of at least 10,000 but no more than 200,000 residents;
• An existing boundary of a current Promise Neighborhoods or Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant or Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant must be encompassed within the proposed Promise Zone boundaries, and;
• A current Choice Neighborhoods or Promise Neighborhoods implementation grant, or a Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant, must be active within the Promise Zone, and the grantees/partners for the Promise Zone application.

As written, this criteria automatically disqualified South Los Angeles from the first round (South Los Angeles did not apply), and may have played a role in not being selected during the second round. Third round designations will be announced later this year.

Today, South Los Angeles has experienced a shift in demographics. It transitioned from a predominantly African-American community to one inhabited primarily by Latinos. However, the same cannot be said about the neighborhood’s poverty and high unemployment rates, which continue to exist and negatively impact community members. The perpetual poverty endured by the residents of South Los Angeles is a result of the neglect from both public and private sectors that have failed to implement policies and projects that would promote the sustainable economic development of the community.

Is your community considered to be one in need? What policies and/or initiatives have you found beneficial to sustainable economic development your community?

Share your stories and thoughts in the comments below.

Credits: Images by Audelia Maciel. Data linked to sources.

*This blog was originally posted in May 2015. H/T The Global Grid

Restoring Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park Into an Ecological Oasis

Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, Harbor City, Los Angeles, California

Growing up in the housing projects of Harbor City, California, several of my childhood memories take place in the Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park—or as my parents would call it el parque de los patos (the park of the ducks). This 231 acre park was the ideal setting for the many morning walks with my father, riding my bicycle and playing on the swings with my sister, feeding the ducks with my mother, and countless birthday celebrations that would bring family members and friends together. It was also one of the very few spaces that existed near my home where I could actually freely be a child. Unfortunately playing outside of my home was often difficult; as it was common to see drugs, gangs, and violence there. This park offered everything I needed: green space in which to play, walking and cycling trails, and a beautiful lake where I could watch and feed the ducks.

However, the last time that I visited this park—about three years ago—it had greatly deteriorated. The grass was no longer green and the little water that still remained in the lake had lost its once crystalline appearance. It seemed that this one apparent ecological oasis had been forgotten and hidden in weeds, trash, and contaminated water.

Today, this park located in between Harbor College, a golf course, and a refinery is closed. It is being restored thanks to a $111-million Lake Machado ecosystem rehabilitation project. Funding for the park’s rehabilitation is possible through Proposition O, a park bond initiative that was approved by voters back in November of 2004. So why did it take so long to begin the restoration process? Some contribute the delay to municipal neglect in a community that has a predominantly low-income, non-voting constituency.

Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, Harbor City, Los Angeles, California

The rehabilitation process will consist of the following procedures:

• Dredging six zones separately to remove the toxic sediments;
• Increasing the depth of the lake by a few feet to make it harder for non-native species to multiply;
• Capping the bottom of the lake with an AquaBlock bio-layer and an oxygenation system to improve the circulation of water;
• Removing invasive plants and vegetation and replacing them with native species; and
• Plans for park landscaping and irrigation.

Work on this park is expected to end in spring 2017 and most areas will remain closed until its completion. However, the closure is worthwhile when one considers that these kinds of sustainable restorations promote the physical and psychological well-being of oneself through the built environment, especially in communities like Harbor City and Wilmington that currently lack green space.

Is there an open space in your community that is in need of rehabilitation or currently undergoing rehabilitation? How are local authorities responding to make sure that such spaces do not become deteriorated and neglected?

Credits: Images by Marisol Maciel-Cervantes.  Data linked to sources.

*This blog was originally posted in April 2015. H/T The Global Grid