Just got my new Baldwin Hills apt, moving from NYC, now I'm SCARED! (Brea: middle-class, apartments)

[FoxyRox007]

So I've finally got myself up to get this move to LA on it's feet. I'm a born and raised New Yorker - Brooklyn (Park Slope but been all over the city of course). I'm African American, female, late 20's, working professional.

I was out in LA for a week last week, and was searching relentlessly for a new place to call home. I found some great places that I sat on and therefore lost the apartments to those that jumped on it right away. I came across a great one bedroom apt for a shocking $700 a month in Baldwin Hills. I heard good things about this area as I had some friends from college from the area who were from affluent families. I figured the cheap rent was because of the fact that the apt didn't contain a fridge or a stove, both of which I have and it wasn't a big issue for me.

Now after some researching, I'm afraid that I'm moving right up into the LA ghetto! It was funny because the building manager thought by voice I was white over the phone, and had suggested that I drive by the area and see if it's where I would want to live. I drove by, it was fine... I asked about safety, and they told me that if I didn't mingle with the wrong folks and stayed to myself I'd be fine. I plan on doing that anyways, and it's the same thing you do out in NYC anyways, why the heck would I bother with my neighbors anyways, never have, never plan to...

The area didn't seem dangerous. Yes it's predominately black, but it looked NOTHING like the area I unknowingly stumbled into while looking at a studio at ADAMS AND CRENSHAW!!! I rolled up the windows, locked my car doors and SPED THE HECK OUT OF THERE... My new apt is on Coco Ave not to far from La Brea... I paid my deposit but have yet to sign a lease, I move in officially on July 1st. What's REALLY the low down on this area guys? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BTW - I looked up the crime statistics in the area. There were a few robberies, and one or two burglaries... 2 grand theft autos... I live in a relatively safe neighborhood in Brooklyn, so I'm not used to living in violence and I'm really scared. But even where I live, I'm very cautious at night and early mornings because stuff happens EVERYWHERE, especially in NY.

[FoxyRox007]

BTW if you want to canvas the area via google maps with the street view it's Coco Ave 90008 - the intersection is btw August St and Potomac Ave.

[katenik]

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT sign that lease. even if it means eating the deposit, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, sign that lease. you DO NOT want to live in the jungle. that is NOT baldwin hills, which is a nice middle-class community of mostly single family homes perched above it. what those crime stats don't tell you about is all of the drug-dealing and gang banging that occurs there when the police aren't around to arrest someone. i have a cousin who moved out of the jungle over fifteen years ago. her husband commuted 120 miles a day to get their family out of there, and it has only gotten worse since then. there is a reason the rent is so cheap!!!! you should be prepared to spend another $500 a month for a decent place.

where are you working? we need to find you another place to live.

[amc760]

Black P. Stones territory

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by katenik

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT sign that lease. even if it means eating the deposit, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, sign that lease. you DO NOT want to live in the jungle. that is NOT baldwin hills, which is a nice middle-class community of mostly single family homes perched above it. what those crime stats don't tell you about is all of the drug-dealing and gang banging that occurs there when the police aren't around to arrest someone. i have a cousin who moved out of the jungle over fifteen years ago. her husband commuted 120 miles a day to get their family out of there, and it has only gotten worse since then. there is a reason the rent is so cheap!!!! you should be prepared to spend another $500 a month for a decent place.

where are you working? we need to find you another place to live.

What was that Chris Rock said do to if you find yourself on or near MLK Blvd anywhere in the US? That address looks way too close.

[wclac]

Baldwin Villiage a.k.a. the Jungles is the heart of the Black P. Stones territory.

[SandyCo]

From Wikipedia:

The Jungles, the once exclusive area (during the 1950s and 1960s) officially known as Baldwin Village, has seen 28 murders and more than 1,500 assaults from 2000 - 2005. There are an estimated 700 members of the Black P. Stones, 400 of whom live in Baldwin Village.

For some reason, the link won't work, but you can Google "Black P. Stones", and choose the one says "Jungles" after it.

I agree with Katenik; don't sign that lease under any circumstances!!!

Also, welcome to City-Data.

[katenik]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

From Wikipedia:

The Jungles, the once exclusive area (during the 1950s and 1960s) officially known as Baldwin Village, has seen 28 murders and more than 1,500 assaults from 2000 - 2005. There are an estimated 700 members of the Black P. Stones, 400 of whom live in Baldwin Village.

For some reason, the link won't work, but you can Google "Black P. Stones", and choose the one says "Jungles" after it.

I agree with Katenik; don't sign that lease under any circumstances!!!

Also, welcome to City-Data.

thanks for posting that, sandy. i really hope that the OP returns to see these responses before she makes a huge mistake.

what's really sad about what has become of that neighborhood (well, besides those 28 murders in five years in an area about one mile square!) is that the housing stock there consists largely of those classic LA apartment buildings that belong to an architecturally style of their own. you know, the ones with a kidney-shaped swimming pool in the central courtyard, lush landscaping, and some kind of tropically-themed name scrolled across the facade that were once emblematic of LA. great retro value there, if the place could ever be cleaned up-- and the apartments are huge! for a lot of upwardly-mobile black families in the 60s and 70s, it was the final leg on the journey to homeownership up the road in baldwin hills or windsor hills/view park. today, it's more akin to the penultimate stop on the slow bus to hell.

i would sooner live in compton!

[wclac]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

From Wikipedia:

The Jungles, the once exclusive area (during the 1950s and 1960s) officially known as Baldwin Village, has seen 28 murders and more than 1,500 assaults from 2000 - 2005. There are an estimated 700 members of the Black P. Stones, 400 of whom live in Baldwin Village.

For some reason, the link won't work, but you can Google "Black P. Stones", and choose the one says "Jungles" after it.

I agree with Katenik; don't sign that lease under any circumstances!!!

Also, welcome to City-Data.

I looked over that article many times before.

[cottonwood2420]

Do not under ANY circumstances sign that lease! If you do, you will regret it for the rest of your life.