By Josh Stephens and Tatum Troutt | California Planning & Development Report
When Los Angeles Metro proposed and started planning a light rail line through the Crenshaw District and Leimert Park – historically the heart of the city’s Black community – some of the opposition was fierce. More than just a new way to move people around the notoriously congested metropolis, the Crenshaw Line promised to become a test of the theory of “transit gentrification.”
Activists criticized the line in part on the grounds that it would hasten gentrification, attracting new development, residents, and capital that might crowd out or displace longtime residents.
I asked @SecretaryPete if investing in communities like the Crenshaw district, is a way of reconnecting neighborhoods that have historically been cut off, disenfranchised and separated from the rest of LA by transit like freeways/lack of train lines. pic.twitter.com/WRDqnrWnZu
— Chace Beech (@Chacebeech) July 9, 2022
The Crenshaw Subway Coalition has been a watchdog, going so far as to declare “war” against gentrification during the line’s development. As quoted in Curbed LA, an edition of the coalition’s newsletter read, “Our historic Black working class community is under attack from gentrification, speculators and developers who want to profit off the community we built.”
“I think (concerns) were valid,” said Jason Foster, president and COO of Destination Crenshaw, a public art project affiliated with the Crenshaw Line. “Concerns in Los Angeles around speculation and how it’s used to change communities without input is ultimately a valid concern, not only in Crenshaw, but throughout Los Angeles.”
They den spent all that money on that damn train an all that muhfukka do is go up and down Crenshaw & Florence empty then a muhfukka 😭
— Hustla D (@DpaysoGetnQueso) November 17, 2022
Our beloved Crenshaw Blvd has been destroyed by train tracks and construction. Our current elected officials have closed their eyes and turned their backs while black businesses have closed one at a time. We deserve better!!! OUR economic Empowerment for Crenshaw that includes US pic.twitter.com/86zM9dajVa
— Denise Woods (@DeniseWoodsCD8) August 5, 2019
They really built that Crenshaw train for nothing. The only people that you see that ride it are MTA employees.
— Fatty (@AdiosNBlueDream) December 26, 2022
Nobody in LA takes that Crenshaw train lol they really only built it for the SoFi stadium prolly
— OBASSI (@Dominiq06070557) December 14, 2022
Read the full article here.
1 Comment
It’s just gonna be another long beach blue line full of homeless or thugs smoking weed and meth on the train. People that smell or are rowdy to the regular people trying to get to where their going. Which is why nobody who isn’t crazy chooses rail over car.