Renting in Inglewood

[CelticViking]

Originally Posted by Jax1982

Well katenik you'll be very happy to hear that the house in this neighbourhood is in my top two picks. Although it is a little more expensive, I'm also considering buying(not renting) in View Park. What can you tell me about View Park? Looking at the listings in this area, it seems upper-middle class. It will be a little closer to my job but it is quite a bit more expensive.
Something else I'm curious about is the gangs along Crenshaw Blvd. I currently live on Southside Chicago(around Kenwood/Hyde Park) so gangs aren't anything new to me but they aren't my favorite either. How active are they down there?

Gangs are very much alive on crenshaw, but you have to realize Crenshaw is a huge street! Crenshaw starts off of PCH in a very nice area where gangs for the most part are not... The big thing that people dont realize about Los Angeles is that the area can have beautiful homes, but the area can also be very crime ridden...Wish you the best.

One place I would reccomend definately NOT looking, is an area known as "the bottoms" off of crenshaw and 104th near century blvd...those streets are darby, dixon, england, woodworth, etc...

Wish you the best

[Fontucky]

If you can afford View Park/Windsor Hills, go for it. Many of the homes were built from the late twenties through the forties. It's well kept, neat and quiet. It's considered part of the Black Beverly Hills.

If you're a coffee drinker, give Mia's at Slauson and Overhill a try.

[katenik]

Originally Posted by Jax1982

Well katenik you'll be very happy to hear that the house in this neighbourhood is in my top two picks. Although it is a little more expensive, I'm also considering buying(not renting) in View Park. What can you tell me about View Park? Looking at the listings in this area, it seems upper-middle class. It will be a little closer to my job but it is quite a bit more expensive.
Something else I'm curious about is the gangs along Crenshaw Blvd. I currently live on Southside Chicago(around Kenwood/Hyde Park) so gangs aren't anything new to me but they aren't my favorite either. How active are they down there?

well, that's good to hear. of the two, i would go for view park, because it's farther north (and, thus, closer to all the places i want to be near), and, if you're on the right street, the views are fabulous. you would also be a little more isolated from the seedier elements down below; whereas, in inglewood, they are just a few streets away. furthermore, the houses in view park are of a more recent vintage (1960's, generally), are much larger, and will have amenities such as swimming pools and tennis courts that you won't find in MP. (if you saw the movie, ray, the house he lived in with the cheesy rock wall is located in view park. they used the actual location for exterior filming.)

view park (along with neighboring windsor hills, and baldwin hills) has been the traditional home of LA's black professional class, and that remains the flavor of the neighborhood. MP, on the other hand, has more of an 'upper-echelon' working class (if that isn't an oxymoron) vibe...folks who aren't necessarily college-educated, but have or have had 'good government jobs' with the postal service, transit authority, and the like, and live a comfortably middle-class lifestyle. however, as you have already noted, you will pay a premium for those differences.

(incidentally, the godmother i mentioned in my previous post lived in view park when i was growing up. hers was a second home to me, so i'm very familiar with that area as well...although, at a considerable distance in time.)

[TheRealAngelion]

I can also vouch for that area as being one of the nicest sections of Inglewood. I have a close friend, an African American single mother with a young son, who owns a home there on 81st street, west of Crenshaw. She feels safe there and hasn't had any problems. Her street and neighborhood as a whole are very nice with many homeowners who have lived there for years and take great pride in maintaining the curb appeal of their properties.

That being said, Windsor Hills, View Park and Ladera Heights are more desirable areas that are in greater demand not only from upper middle class black families but also increasingly from Latino and white families who are beginning to discover the good value and quality of home these neighborhoods offer. Moving to one of these neighborhoods is considered a step up for professional, upwardly mobile black couples and families who may have purchased their starter home in Inglewood initially. So if you can afford a decent house in one of these areas now, grab it because there is a greater likelihood that the home will maintain its value and appreciate over the long run.

[Los Angel]

Originally Posted by Jax1982

Do you still live in this area? And what other areas in L.A. would you recommend?

I get around. I recommended you get to L.A. and shop around and see what suits you that you can afford. If it's Inglewood then so be it. I feel there are better and healthier places to be (my opinion).

Originally Posted by katenik

three posters tell you that the neighborhood is among the best in inglewood, and you shouldn't expect any problems there.

No one is disputing the particular neighborhood in question. The community at large is less than stellar.

Originally Posted by katenik

one person offers a less positive evaluation, throws in some lame reference to your potential as a police target, and that's the one to which you are responsive. people love appeals to their sense of victimhood, i guess.

There is nothing lame about what I said. The police are a heavy handed there, especially toward young black males (justified and unjustified). You don't have to take my word for anything. Who am I? Just some stranger on the internet.

Originally Posted by katenik

in case you're still interested in the facts: my 77-year-old godmother lives in the area. most of her neighbors are retired elderly people who have lived in their homes for 30+ years.

You're grandmother and other retiree's are least likely to have issues. Keep in mind, I was very specific about transplants vs locals moving to Inglewood.

but hey, whatever you decide is all good.