Crenshaw

From Rap Dictionary

Crenshaw

The Crenshaw District is located in southwestern Los Angeles, California. It derives its name from Crenshaw Boulevard, one of the district's principal thoroughfares. It is generally considered to be a part of South Central, Los Angeles. The Crenshaw district is bordered by Chesterfield Square on the east, Hyde Park on the south, View Park-Windsor Hills on the west, and Leimert Park on the north. The district's boundaries are roughly Van Ness and Arlington Avenues on the east, Vernon Avenue on the north, the city limits of Los Angeles on the west, and Slauson Avenue on the south. The Crenshaw district is a largely residential area of single-story Mediterranean bungalows and low-rise apartment buildings, with an industrial corridor along Jefferson Boulevard. Developed from the early 1920s onward, Crenshaw was initially a very diverse neighborhood of whites (including many Jews and other Eastern Europeans). Covenants on property deeds barred African Americans and Asian Americans from owning real estate in the area. After courts ruled segregation covenants to be unconstitutional, many African and Japanese-Americans started moving in, but by the 70's the area had become predominately African-American. Since the 1970s, Crenshaw and neighboring Leimert Park have since formed one of the largest middle-class African-American neighborhoods in the United States, despite heavy damage from the 1992 riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Crenshaw has some rough areas such as "The Jungle" (officially named Baldwin Village), and the 40s, but overall the area is mainly middle-class. Crenshaw Boulevard is a major thoroughfare for Los Angeles County. It starts at Wilshire Boulevard in Hancock Park and passes several demographically diverse areas to end in Rolling Hills. Crenshaw was home of Ice T, Ice Cube, and Keyshon Johnson.