Vermont Square, Los Angeles

Vermont Square is a 2.54-square-mile, low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, within the South Los Angeles area. It is notable for its dense concentration of residents, their youthful age range, their high ratio of single to married parents and their low median household income.[1] It is the site of Manual Arts High School[2] and the Barack Obama Global Preparatory Academy.[1][3]

Geography

Vermont Square as outlined by the Los Angeles Times
Advertisement for tract sales, Los Angeles Herald, 1909, "The largest subdivision ever put on the market in Los Angeles"

Vermont Square is bordered by Exposition Park on the north, Historic South Central on the northeast, South Park on the east, Vermont-Slauson, Harvard Park and Chesterfield Square on the south and Hyde Park and Leimert Park on the west.[4] The neighborhood's street boundaries are Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the north, the Harbor Freeway on the east, West 54th Street on the south and South Van Ness Avenue on the west.[1][2]

Population

Apartment buildings on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Vermont Square.

A total of 42,284 people lived in Vermont Square's 2.54 square miles, according to the 2000 U.S. census—averaging 17,798 people per square mile, among the highest population densities in the city as a whole. Population was estimated at 47,555 in 2008. The median age was 26, considered young when compared to the city as a whole. The percentages of young residents, aged birth to 18, were among the county's highest.[1]

Within the neighborhood, Latinos made up 58.5% of the population, with black people at 39.2%, white 1.4%, Asian 1.1%, and other 1.8%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 38.5% of the residents who were born abroad, an average percentage of foreign-born when compared with the city or county as a whole.[1]

The $29,904 median household income in 2008 dollars was considered low for the city and county. The percentage of households earning $20,000 or less was high, compared to the county at large. The average household size of 3.4 people was high for the city. Renters occupied 63.2% of the housing units, and homeowners occupied the rest.[1]

In 2000, there were 2,519 families headed by single parents, or 26.7%, a rate that was high for the county and the city.[1]

Education

Vermont Square residents with a four-year degree amounted to 5.3% of the population aged 25 and older in 2000, which was a low figure when compared with the city and the county at large; the percentage of those residents with less than a high school diploma was high for the county.[1]

There are thirteen schools operating within Vermont Square. They are:[2][5]

Recreation and parks

The century-old Vermont Square Branch Library sits in Vermont Square Park on the intersecting axis of Budlong Drive.

Library

Los Angeles Public Library operates the Vermont Square Branch.

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Vermont Square," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 The Thomas Guide, 2006, pages 673 and 674
  3. 1 2 Academy website
  4. ↑ "South L.A.," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  5. ↑ "Vermont Square Schools," Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  6. ↑ Los Angeles Unified School District
  7. ↑ Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.