Is it Safe?

Is it safe there?


I'm asked that about some of the neighborhoods in which I practice. (Yeah, I know it reads like a William Goldman line, but...) It's what happens when you're off the cognitive map, on an unsoiled page in an otherwise unspooled Thomas Guide.

West Adams, formerly South Los Angeles, formerly South Central Los Angeles, formerly "the Ghetto", once a haven for the super-wealthy, now a destination for those with good credit, tolerance, and an urban disposition. Viewed by many non-residents as a gang addled district, site of civil unrest, smoking ruins, and lots of good Bar B-que joints.

I decided to take my camera to the streets, to points of shadowy congregation, and houses of ill repute, the hot spots, problem corners, and rough patches--in search of.....the unvarnished truth!

(Top image)
In Victoria Park: blinding hot lights. Some sort of gang inquisition or parking lot beat-down, perhaps?! Nope, just a low-budget film and a couple of par lights. Wonder if I can cadge some craft service?

(See picture second from the top)
Here's a frequent gathering place for youth, a possible spot for gang incubation--er, it's a public library?! A rather handsome one at that. Well no wonder there's always people loitering here. Ok, so it's on the up-and-up, let's take our eagle eye elsewhere.

(Bottom image)
A particularly desolete spot near Washington Blvd. Tall weeds, corrugated fences, barking dogs. It's close to dusk and hoodlums should begin amassing like storm clouds about now. Only, there's just a guy working on his transmission. He's listening to either Billy Paul or the Intruders. Gee, I kind of like those TSOP bands....

Hey nobody's pretending there isn't crime here--it's Los Angeles: the nation's second-largest city. Do you leave your car door unlocked? Do you leave your front door open when you go out? Some of my neighbors do but they're Canadian.

Is there more crime in South Los Angeles than in the Palisades for example? The statistics suggest there is. Still, if you're afraid to drive down Crenshaw Boulevard, or stop for gas on Arlington without a Kevlar vest, pepper spray and numchucks--you probably aren't cut out for city living, or Bar B-que.