Hawthorne a good place to live? (Torrance, El Segundo: apartment complex, renting, crime)

[bradyischamp]

I am looking at a place between Rosecrans and El Segundo, Crenshaw and Prairie ave. The place is located on Doty Ave.

single male, just dont want to live in a shady neighborhood.

thoughts?

[Beth56]

I know a couple who have lived on the other (South) side of Rosecrans Avenue, near Doty, for about 15 years. They have never spoken about having any problems in the area.

Sometimes you can get reviews on a specific apartment building if you Google the apartment complex name, city, and type in review. It's worth a try.

I would also drive by the apartment at different times and days to look for myself. Evenings and weekends I would look to see what the locals are up to. The area may not be bad, but the apartment itself might be.

[majoun]

I'd be leery of Hawthorne myself.

It was another of those old working class towns that did really well when the factories were going, but when the factories shut down it really went to crap. The old Hawthorne was a solidly blue collar place which was looked down upon by its more affluent neighbors (and admittedly had serious issues with racism) but was perfectly functional.

Deindustrialization hit Hawthorne really hard, and that's when the gang problems and drug problems and all other sorts of problems hit. This is NOT an ethnic issue - Hawthorne in the early '80s was already quite diverse, but since the blue collar jobs at the aerospace plants were plentiful, it generally worked as a community Once the industrial base was gone, it was all downhill. Rather similar to what happened all across the USA. This is the reason why I reject all the "Tijuana" talk made by so many posters on C-D forums - Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo (which has remained majority white to this day but suffered from some of the exact same problems as its fellow Great Lakes cities once the Rust Belt got devastated) are better parallels.

However, if the community of Hawthorne desires to revitalize Hawthorne, best of luck. Just keep in mind that Hawthorne is no longer the city the Beach Boys grew up in, or even the city that Redd Kross grew up in.

[f_m]

Wouldn't be my first choice. Although they have recently put in some schools in that area, and the DMV office is right there, so there are some public facilities in the area. But it always felt like people lived there if they couldn't afford to live somewhere else.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by bradyischamp

I am looking at a place between Rosecrans and El Segundo, Crenshaw and Prairie ave. The place is located on Doty Ave.

single male, just dont want to live in a shady neighborhood.

thoughts?

Generally I would avoid Hawthorne. My wife attended Hawthorne High and we had family in the area. The crime is higher there. My wife's aunt had here home broken into a number of times and there is a gang element in the area as well.

There are so many better options in the South Bay especially for a sinlge person. If you have limited means look into Torrance near El Camino or the Del Amo Mall. There are a lot of apartments there - some better than others. I would rather have a small studio in Torrance than a larger place in Hawthorne any day. If you can't afford that then look into roomates in the nicer areas - Torrance, Redondo, etc...

Derek

[18Montclair]

My relatives live off of Prarie..on W147th Place. Its a pretty nice and clean subdivision.

That area seems cool to me.

[Freezer41]

I lived in hawthorne for the past 8 months and experienced no problems at all. Street parking is tough because the average household size is pretty large. The farther east you go it gets a little rougher. I lived 136th between Hawthorne and Prairie. You'll probably find a good deal renting near Doty but I wouldn't buy there personally. You'll have easy access to the 105, 15 minutes to LAX in ideal traffic conditions