U really call Compton a ghetto? (Los Angeles, San Diego: landscaping, statistics, slums)

[Agnapostate]

Originally Posted by Harrier

So South Gate is the ghetto?

I would call the parts of South Gate that border the Los Angeles city limit and the surrounding area "the ghetto," or more specifically, the "barrio," but not the portion east of the L.A. River that borders Downey, though it's not exactly a "white picket fence" neighborhood either.

[yowps3]

I said this earlier, aesthetically speaking, Compton looks normal.. But then again Cali in general with the exception of San Fransisco looks nice anyway..

[franktank232]

If you lived in Compton and put Christmas decorations in the front yard, would someone steal them?

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by yowps3

I said this earlier, aesthetically speaking, Compton looks normal.. But then again Cali in general with the exception of San Fransisco looks nice anyway..

SF is nice enough to be the nation's leading vacation/tourism destination. So many people probably aren't shelling out for ugliness.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by goldenchild08

I have lived outside of Baltimore for 10+ years and yes Baltimore is ghetto as hell. However, California cities like Oakland and sometimes Richmond and Compton rank higher in terms of crime rate. This year, Baltimore jumped from the 12th most dangerous city in America to the eighth. The only crime category in which Baltimore ranks higher than these CA cities homicide and sometimes assault.

The 10 most dangerous cities in America - Business - US business - msnbc.com

Baltimore looks run-down because it is an ancient city by American standards that has been ravaged by White Flight and de-industrialization. However, poverty in Baltimore is in some ways less extreme than some CA cities. Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation. Baltimore has the statistically third best job market in the country. The Baltimore-Washington corridor has the best job market and highest median incomes in the country, period. All of that money does trickle down to even the cuttiest corners of the hood in Baltimore in the form of drug money and even government jobs.

Can't Find a Job? Best and Worst Job Markets | Indeed.com

On the other hand, California is mired in a depression. Unlike stereotypically ghetto cities like DC and Baltimore, most kids in the ghetto in San Francisco in Oakland don't wear the latest $300 Nikes and the latest Polo Ralph Lauren and authentic Gucci and Prada. Kids in the hood in the Bay still wear baggy Girbaud shuttle jeans and tall tees and are about ten years behind the East Coast in terms of fashion. This is because of poverty. Also, blatant racism and the oppression of Blacks is much more apparent in California cities as Blacks have much less opportunities there. Cities like Baltimore and DC have large upper and upper middle class Black populations, whereas most CA cities do not. Poverty is more acute in California because the astronomical cost of living keeps poor people poor. Californians pay much more for everything. Also, CA cities are flooded with immigrants from the third world which is the reason why the Golden State is undeniably the Tigris and Euphrates of the vast majority of Black, Latino, Pacific Islander and Asian gangs in America. Gangs of all races are much more visible in California cities than anywhere on the East Coast.

Historically, California ghettos do not need validation for how "hard" they are. Every ghetto in America wants to be compared to Compton and South Central, including Baltimore. Kids in the hood in Baltimore to New Jersey to North Carolina to Georgia try to emulate California gangs by starting their own bastardized sets of Bloods and Crips and try to check each other over colors like, well, Compton. Baltimore Bloods, who are not at all affiliated with L.A. Bloods other than watching Colors, also name their sets after streets in Compton. Ironically, 90% of these Baltimore and other East Coast Blood/Crip sets have never even seen the streets in L.A. that they name their gangs after.

Tree Top Piru Bloods | Inside Charm City: Baltimore, Maryland blog

N.J. authorities charge 11 Grape Street Crips gang members with gun, cocaine trafficking | NJ.com

Oakland and LA definitely have large upper middle and upper class black populations.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

Oakland and LA definitely have large upper middle and upper class black populations.

Their massive CA mortgages, just like everybody else around the state pay, suggest this is so.

[yowps3]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

SF is nice enough to be the nation's leading vacation/tourism destination. So many people probably aren't shelling out for ugliness.

Yeah popular for tourist, but not really an ideal city to settle down in my opinion..

[Vicman]

I'm not sure if I already pointed this out, but Ralph's headquarters (and other Kroger LA area offices) are in Compton.

Maybe some parts are business-friendly?

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Vicman

I'm not sure if I already pointed this out, but Ralph's headquarters (and other Kroger LA area offices) are in Compton.

Maybe some parts are business-friendly?

I don't know. My boss always brings up how UPS-SCS used to (or still does) have a warehouse and call-center in CPT, and how even with all of the extra security measures taken, they still had problems with crime.

[RC1981]

I can show you multi-million dollar residences in Boston that "look" more ghetto than most of the houses I've seen in Compton. It's just that we've been kind of trained by the media and hollywood to think that "ghetto" means some burned out tenement building in New York with tough guys hanging around drinking beer and shooting dice in the alley. We don't generally think in terms of single family homes with a car in the driveway, the flag on the porch, and a palm tree in the backyard as "ghetto".

That doesn't mean you should go out to California and try your luck though. Hell, maybe I'm just provincial, but I'd feel safer looking for a cab on St. Anne's & 156th in the South Bronx at night than I would on any of the streets in Compton. Then again, I've never been to Compton, so I can't really judge.