Crenshaw, Los Angeles

Real estate developer George L. Crenshaw named the neighborhood's main commercial thoroughfare, Crenshaw Boulevard, after himself in 1904.^[6]

In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled segregated housing covenants to be unconstitutional in Shelley v. Kraemer, allowing people of all races to legally inhabit the once all-white community. Following World War II, a large Japanese American community established itself in the area. At its peak, the Japanese American settlement in Crenshaw was one of the largest in California, with about 8,000 residents.^[7]

African Americans began migrating to the district in the mid 1960s and became the majority ethnic group by the early 1970s.^[3] Due to a shared sense of discrimination, many Japanese-Americans formed close relationships with the African-American community.^[7] In the 1970s, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, and neighboring areas together had formed one of the largest African-American communities in the western United States.

The neighborhood's Japanese population dwindled in the following decades, dropping to 4,000 people in 1980 and 2,500 in 1990.^[7] Scott Shibuya Brown stated that "some say" the effect was a "belated response" to the 1965 Watts riots and that "several residents say a wave of anti-Japanese-American sentiment began cropping up in the area, prompting further departures."^[7] Eighty-two-year-old Jimmy Jike was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in 1993, stating that it was mainly because the residents' children, after attending universities, moved away.^[7] Traces of Japanese influence are still visible in the neighborhood's cuisine and architecture.^[8]

Crenshaw suffered significant damage from both the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake^[9] but was able to rebound in the late 2000s with the help of redevelopment and gentrification.^[10]

In 2018, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall had been approved for a major renovation plan, that would have included apartments, shops, and more restaurants.^[11] The renovation was met with community opposition and did not happen.^[12]

In 2012, the Los Angeles Times reiterated that "the Santa Monica Freeway, completed in 1964, created an imposing barrier between the Crenshaw District" and neighborhoods to the north.^[13]

The city has also installed a neighborhood sign at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue.^[14]

Mural of African-American Progress and apartment complexes, along Crenshaw Boulevard

Public schools are operated by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

• Susan Miller Dorsey High School – 3537 Farmdale Avenue
• View Park Preparatory High School – 5701 Crenshaw Boulevard
• View Park Preparatory Middle School – 5311 Crenshaw Boulevard
• Isana Nascent Academy (Jefferson Campus) – 3417 W Jefferson Boulevard ^[17]

In 2006, the population of Crenshaw was around 27,600. In 1996, there was a demographic shift increase in which many middle and lower-class blacks and Latinos are migrating to cities in the Inland Empire as well as cities in the Antelope Valley sections of Southern California .^[18]

The K Line runs between Expo/Crenshaw station and Redondo Beach station, running generally north-south along Crenshaw Boulevard.^[19][20]

• Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall – home to a tri-level Wal-Mart (formerly a Broadway department store, then later a JJ Newberry's), Sears and Macy's.
• Marlton Square (formerly known as Santa Barbara Plaza) – The center had aged over the years and was a failed redevelopment project.^[21]

• West Angeles Church of God in Christ – 3045 Crenshaw Boulevard

• The Holiday Bowl was a bowling alley and café known for being a center of ethnic diversity during the 1960s and 1970s. It featured a sushi bar known as the Sakiba Lounge with live musical acts. Its historic Modernist Googie architecture style has been refurbished by the building's new tenants along with a newly outdoor shopping center that opened in early 2006. It is City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument #688.^[22][23]

• The annual Kingdom Day Parade: Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr., the Parade held its 35th edition in 2018. It is usually broadcast in the LA area on KABC-TV.^[27] The parade goes west on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Crenshaw Boulevard.
• The Taste of Soul Festival takes place every October (since 2005).^[28]

• Tom Bradley, former mayor of Los Angeles^[29]
• Darwin Cook, National Basketball Association (NBA) player
• Baron Davis, NBA player
• Eric Davis, Major League Baseball (MLB) player
• June Edmonds, painter and public artist^[30]
• Richard Elfman and Danny Elfman, musicians
• Tremaine Fowlkes, NBA player
• David Fulcher, National Football League (NFL) player
• Tiffany Haddish, comedian and actress
• James Hahn, former mayor of Los Angeles
• Kenneth Hahn (1920–1997), Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member
• Nipsey Hussle (1985–2019), rapper, entrepreneur, community activist^[31][32][33]
• Ice Cube, rapper
• Ice-T, musician and actor
• DeSean Jackson, NFL player^[34]
• Dom Kennedy, rapper
• Kurupt, rapper
• Arthur Lee, singer
• Lords of Lyrics, rap group
• Spencer Paysinger, NFL player
• Peter Ramsey, film director
• Skee-Lo, rapper
• Darryl Strawberry, MLB player^[35]
• Syd, singer and producer
• De'Anthony Thomas, NFL player^[36]
• Pam Ward, novelist

• List of districts and neighborhoods of Los Angeles
• Crenshaw Boulevard