LA Gang now has 20000 members (Los Angeles, Pasadena: real estate, smog, income)

[SunsetCowboy]

The 18th street gang now has 20000 members in LA county I think this place is going down hill.With this many criminals in one gang how many total do you suppose there is? If you have to send your kids to school and dont have a million dollars do not move to LA.I hope to vote with my feet soon.

18th Street Gang in Los Angeles, Diesiocho

[LALady]

Originally Posted by SmogBird07

The 18th street gang now has 20000 members in LA county I think this place is going down hill.With this many criminals in one gang how many total do you suppose there is? If you have to send your kids to school and dont have a million dollars do not move to LA.I hope to vote with my feet soon.

18th Street Gang in Los Angeles, Diesiocho

Well, LA is the gang capital of the world. We're number 1, we're number 1!

[greggd]

I looked at the graphic chart and cant believe that the sections of los angeles between downtown LA and mid wilshire are inhabited by gangs at all.

This should be prime real estate housing middle income households. It's sad that we have let these area go low income.

20,000 gang members means a minimum of 20,000 parents who have probably not properly planned to have a famiily, like way to many or just plain unfit to be a parent.

And they want denser housing in these areas.

[LALady]

Originally Posted by greggd

I looked at the graphic chart and cant believe that the sections of los angeles between downtown LA and mid wilshire are inhabited by gangs at all.

This should be prime real estate housing middle income households. It's sad that we have let these area go low income.

20,000 gang members means a minimum of 20,000 parents who have probably not properly planned to have a famiily, like way to many or just plain unfit to be a parent.

And they want denser housing in these areas.

That area between downtown and mid wilshire is incredibly dense. I can't imagine it ever being mid class.

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by LALady

That area between downtown and mid wilshire is incredibly dense. I can't imagine it ever being mid class.

The northern part is already being rapidly gentrified and it's spreading like wildfire. Where there were homies there is now gelato. They are being pushed south and east. The gentrification freight train has already roared through many areas previously declared uninhabitable such as Silverlake, Echo Park, Old Pasadena, eastern Santa Monica...

The thing about media is they are a business. I'm reminded daily as I live with someone who works in it. This isn't a new story. 18th Street has been huge for a long time. They've been dusting this one off and running it since the
80's. This is old news. Yawn.

[Caliguy2007]

L.A in my opinion is Improving....The Gangs and Crime is not as bad as in the past.

[CLQ]

I think it is just boredom that leads kids into gangs and eventually drugs then come the crimes and they feel like there is no escape. The kids need to feel like they have a purpose and good mentors that will teach them to make better decisions. There should be a non-profit or something that will bus all the poorer kids to the beach and just surf all day. That will keep them out of trouble. maybe... = )

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by CLQ

I think it is just boredom that leads kids into gangs and eventually drugs then come the crimes and they feel like there is no escape. The kids need to feel like they have a purpose and good mentors that will teach them to make better decisions. There should be a non-profit or something that will bus all the poorer kids to the beach and just surf all day. That will keep them out of trouble. maybe... = )

You're exactly right. I worked with them at a grass roots level. Most of them get involved in gangs because of lack of supervision/parental involvement. The go get "jumped in" to find a family. Most of them don't do anything more than tag, which is annoying in itself. Working with the ones that had been involved for a long time was frustrating, it's an altered perception of reality. They have lousey role models. Most of the older gang members are now either in prison, dead or they have families and jobs.

[davidt1]

LA actually had a lower crime index than Huntsville, AL and Houston, TX (two cities I am thinking of moving to) in 2005.

LA = 408

Huntsville = 583.6

Houston = 659.6

[natt]

Not saying that L.A. doesn't have a gang problem...but that article is 5 years old and the map data is 10-20 years old. Things were a lot different in the 80s with the gangs. They always seem to spend their time killing each other rather than wasting time with John Q, anyway. Also, the little red dots on that map are in some of the worst of L.A.'s neighborhoods...the kinds of places you make a point of driving through only on the freeway, or on the big blvds during daylight.