USC

University of Southern California
Annenberg School for Communication


Research

Area Profiles

Greater Crenshaw

Greater Crenshaw and African American/Hispanic samples

The Metamorphosis Project has conducted two rounds of research in the Greater Crenshaw area.  The 1999 study area was 9 square-miles, and lies 6.0 miles from the Civic Center, and included the residential areas of Arlington, the Crenshaw District, Jefferson Park, Ladera Heights, Leimert Park, Windsor Hills, and View Park. African Americans constituted 80 percent of the population, according to the 1990 Census.  African American respondents reported relatively high rates of homeownership, and residential tenure similar to the Westside and South Pasadena study areas.

The Greater Crenshaw area has historically been a majority African-American community but has undergone significant changes in recent years. With increased middle-class African American migration to newer neighborhoods such as the Antelope Valley and Moreno Valley, and with a significant increase in Latino immigration, Greater Crenshaw no longer has a clear racial/ethnic majority.

In 2005, the Metamorphosis Project returned the Crenshaw area, this time to research both African American and Hispanic residents.  The research area was expanded to include some contiguous residential areas that were predominantly Hispanic.  The 2005 Greater Crenshaw study area covers an area of 27.4 square miles, and is home to over 376,000 people. According to the 2000 Census, 49 percent of the population is African American and 38 percent identifies as Hispanic. The remainder identify as Caucasian and Asian. Thirty percent of the total population of the area is foreign-born, and 43 percent speak a language other than English at home.