Willowbrook, California

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Willowbrook, California
settlement_type = CDP
nickname =
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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location of Willowbrook in Los Angeles County, California.


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = California
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Los Angeles
government_footnotes =
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leader_title =
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area_footnotes =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 9.7
area_land_km2 = 9.7
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 3.7
area_land_sq_mi = 3.7
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 34138
population_density_km2 = 3521.9
population_density_sq_mi = 9121.6

timezone = PST
utc_offset = -8
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 29
elevation_ft = 95
latd = 33 |latm = 55 |lats = 3 |latNS = N
longd = 118 |longm = 15 |longs = 10 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 90222
area_code = 213
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 06-85614
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1867074
website =
footnotes =

Willowbrook is a census-designated place (CDP) in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 34,138 at the 2000 census. The community is located within the unincorporated part of South Los Angeles.

Willowbrook is the home of the troubled [Citeweb|publisher=L.A. Times|title=Troubles at King-Harbor|accessdate=2007-06-14|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-kingdrew-gallery,0,5651209.storygallery] Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, which has recently been cited multiple times for failures in hospital accreditation. Also located in Willowbrook is the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which oversees residency training programs, allied health programs, a medical education program (jointly with the University of California, Los Angeles), a medical magnet high school, the area Head Start program, and various centers for health disparities research. Due to severe deficiencies, the former King/Drew Medical Center lost accreditation of several key residency training programs.

Willowbrook is often confused with the city of Compton because both communities are located next to each other.

History

Willows and a slow, shallow brook distinguished this portion of the Los Angeles plain long before it was given the name "Willowbrook." A lone-standing streamside willow tree near the present intersection of 125th Street and Mona Boulevard was an original rancho boundary marker in the 1840s.

Willowbrook was rich in springs in the early days and winter rains would bring up fine stands of rye grass between gravelly ridges left by long-ago floods of the Los Angeles River. As early as 1820, Don Anastacio Abila was grazing cattle on the land and by 1843, the Mexican governor had granted him convert|4500|acre|km2. This grant was named the Rancho Tajauta and it extended from the marshes along present Alameda Street westward to approximately the present line of the Harbor Freeway. All of present-day Willowbrook is within the area covered by Rancho Tajauta.

The first subdivisions in the Willowbrook area were filed in 1894 and 1895 on land along what is now Rosecrans Boulevard. The first official use of the name Willowbrook came in 1903, when the Willowbrook Tract was recorded with the County Recorder. The tract straddled the newly opened Pacific Electric railway line to Long Beach. There is no evidence that a townsite was envisioned and street patterns were not coordinated with adjacent tracts. The name Willowbrook came into use for the whole area, because the Big Red Cars of the Pacific Electric Railroad Company stopped at 126th Street in Willowbrook.

Lot buyers in Willowbrook expected to live a definitely suburban life. The deep lots (up to 300 feet deep in many cases) attracted working-class families, especially newcomers to Southern California. The Big Red Cars provided fast, reasonable transportation to department stores in downtown Los Angeles and to jobs in the Long Beach and San Pedro harbor areas. During the Depression years, residents used the land behind their homes to grow fruits and vegetables, run hogs, and raise chickens. These land uses, together with the vacant lots covered with mustard plants, intensified the area's rural appearance. After the end of the Depression and World War II, increasing suburban development occurred in Willowbrook, but not to the extent that it substantially altered the area's rural character. Even the 1965 Watts Riots did not change that, although Willowbrook suffered damage to a number of its buildings, including Willowbrook's community library.

The mixture of suburban and rural land uses continued in Willowbrook into the early 1980s, when the area began to lose its rural character due to a redevelopment plan drafted by the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) under the leadership of Ted Watkins and supported by Los Angeles County. Under this plan, convert|365|acre|km2 of Willowbrook land was redeveloped to provide new commercial and residential facilities. As a result, present-day Willowbrook appears similar to other communities in the South Central section of Los Angeles.

Geography

Willowbrook is located at coor dms|33|55|3|N|118|15|10|W|city (33.917515, -118.252705)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 9.7 km² (3.7 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 34,138 people, 8,476 households, and 6,823 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,524.3/km² (9,121.6/mi²). There were 9,042 housing units at an average density of 933.5/km² (2,416.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 16.06% White, 44.91% African American, 0.72% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 34.98% from other races, and 2.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 53.60% of the population.

There were 8,476 households out of which 47.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 29.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.5% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.97 and the average family size was 4.35.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 37.3% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 14.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,811, and the median income for a family was $30,107. Males had a median income of $22,250 versus $23,615 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $9,865. About 26.8% of families and 30.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.5% of those under age 18 and 16.8% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature Willowbrook is located in the 25th and 27th Senate Districts, represented by Democrats Edward Vincent and Mark Ridley-Thomas respectively, and in the 51st and 52nd Assembly Districts, represented by Democrats Curren D. Price Jr. and Mervyn M. Dymally respectively. Federally, Willowbrook is located in California's 37th and 39th congressional districts, which have Cook PVIs of D +27 and D +13 respectively [cite web | title = Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest? | publisher = Campaign Legal Center Blog | url=http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-85.html | accessdate = 2008-02-10] and are represented by Democrats Laura Richardson and Linda Sánchez respectively.

Education

Some Willowbrook residents are zoned to schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District while others are zoned to schools in the Compton Unified School District.

Crime

Like the surrounding communities in the South Los Angeles region, Willowbrook is considered a highly dangerous communityFact|date=August 2007. The Century Station of the L.A. County Sheriffs Department serves the area.

ee also

* South Central Los Angeles

References

External links

* [http://www.wattswillowbrookrotary.org/ Rotary Club of Watts-Willowbrook]
*Mapit-US-cityscale|33.917515|-118.252705