LOCAL RESEARCH

South Los Angeles since the Sixties

Fifty years after residents of South Central made it impossible to ignore the inequality between Black and White residents of Los Angeles, has any progress been achieved? This project used census surveys from 1960 to 2019 to assess changes in material inequality between South Los Angeles and the rest of the county.

Despite significant improvements to the neighborhood brought about by community advocates and organizers, the socioeconomic position of South Los Angeles residents relative to the county has hardly changed. Employment, wages, access to transportation, and education continue to lag.

Impact of COVID-19 on small ethnic business

COVID-19 has hit Asian, Black and Latino communities in Los Angeles especially hard. This project focuses on the resilience of small independent businesses. Using a large data set of cell phone location data, we assess activity at small businesses in three neighborhoods: Chinatown, Boyle Heights, and Leimert Park.