The City of Bell California? (South Gate, Lynwood: crime rates, motels, houses)

[miranda104]

Hey city forum dudes this question is for anyone who lives in the city of Bell or lives very near or who have been there a couple times.

I have recently visited California the August that just passed. I went all over L.A and Southern California but I stood at my family's house in Bell California. I think the area is quite nice and quiet. My cousin tells me it is dangerous. really? My cousins said other stuff too. Can anyone describe the area for me?
What kind of area is Bell? Thanks dudes you guys rock!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Well according to City Data's page on Bell, its median income is $22k below the state's average (that's 37%), the population density is extremely high (probably indicates multiple families living in single family homes), only 35% have a high school diploma and only 5.3% have a college degree or better, 24% are below the poverty line (1999 numbers). Oh, and the schools suck. Sounds lovely.

[katenik]

if you thought it was nice, then, by your standards, it was nice. i think bell and neighboring cudahy are armpits, but if you liked the area, that's what matters. the problems are not hidden, so they obviously didn't bother you.

[vegaspilgrim]

Isn't Bell and all those other adjacent cities-- Bell Gardens, Vernon, Huntington Park, Cudahy, Maywood-- basically the same thing as south Central or Watts?

[katenik]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Isn't Bell and all those other adjacent cities-- Bell Gardens, Vernon, Huntington Park, Cudahy, Maywood-- basically the same thing as south Central or Watts?

worse.

[bhcompy]

Bell is not the greatest of areas. I used to work a route through Bell, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, South Gate, Pico Rivera, etc and it would not be somewhere I would choose to live. Too many people than I'm comfortable with and I witnessed too much crime while I was working there(#1 being a murder occuring across the street from where I was working in Bell Gardens).

[miranda104]

Wow so it is that bad?

[the one]

Originally Posted by miranda104

Wow so it is that bad?

not really. the thing about these areas is that they are very small. it is very easy to confuse one area for another. generally people lump bell together with maywood, bell gardens, south gate, huntington park, etc. and these places refer to themselves as the southeast cities. so its understandable why people would have misperceptions about this area.

these areas are demographically similar (heavily latino) but they have some subtle, but distinct differences(bell is home to a significant population of lebanese people).
i must say that bell is not south central or east LA. and it does not resemble those areas either. anyone who thinks so, probably hasnt spent much time in any of those places.

bell is a small city that has traditionally been a blue collar town. it is safer than its surrounding neighbors, but that is one of its drawbacks, its neighbors.
maywood, cudahy and HP (which all share a border with tiny bell) have higher crime rates and that is due in part because they have higher populations and are very dense cities. maywood is apparently one of the densest cities in the nation. and bell is denser than most of LA(given that LA is so spread out) but it is not dense to the extent where people are living on top of eachother.
the more people crammed into a smaller area, the more potential for crime, over crowded schools, trash, etc. bell sees this to an extent, but not the way people think.

there are apt complexes that contriubute to density, but a lot of the streets are pure single family residences. code enforcement is strictly regulated in this city. the areas that once had rows of apt complexes are now becoming new, state of the art schools. the majority of housing is single family residneces(SFR). the major thoroughfares do have some apt complexes and MOTELS but its mostly SFR's

the houses are of the older variety. most from the early teens to the early 40's. by the time most of bell had been built out. some charming craftsmen homes and some very nice spanish style ones. the only problem is that they've all been stuccoed X's 2.
some houses are ownder occupied, some are not (you can usally tell). i have family that lives in the area and their street is pretty nice. they have no fence around their yard and they have no bars on their windows. they have never been the victim of crime. they know most of all their neighbors .
on the other hand i have a colleague who moved there a couple years ago and they HAVE been a victim of theft. their car got broken into. (otherwise they are very happy)

like any other place it has its good and its bad.

graffitti is not as prevalent as in the surrounding cities. gangs are not either. there are some left overs from the 80's and 90's and every now and then a homeboy gets relseaed from jail, but they really have no "barrio" to come back to.

one way that city officials keep density and crime down is by not allowing over night parking. certain cities like pasadena and south gate do this as well.

theoretically, since most streets are SFR's, the occupants should be able to store their cars in their driveway/garage. this keeps the streets clear of cars at night, limiting a potential thieves access, and also limiting how many people live in a house.

as for the schools in the area... the biggest impediment to learning is over crowding and parental invovlemnt. the schools are over crowded because for the longest time the school district neglected this area. now, new schools are being built at a break neck speed. LAUSD invested heavily in this area.
my coworkers wife is very happy with the education their child recieves at the local LAUSD school, and they are very involved in their kids education. i think a lot of the parents are not afforded that luxury. so if a parent is not invovled in the educational process, it becomes harder for the kid because there is only one teacher. this is changing tho.

all in all. bell is a nice city. its pretty much dead after 10 pm, but very pedestrian by day. the schools are improving. crime is low. gangs are low. its has nice houses. its has crummy apts. its like any other urban area. it has its good and its bad.

its biggest draw back is that it is surrounded by some of the crummiest cities. (still not SC or ELA)
oh and that no overnight parking thing. thats adrawback to some. but the family and friends i have in the area prefer it that way.

[the one]

Originally Posted by katenik

if you thought it was nice, then, by your standards, it was nice. i think bell and neighboring cudahy are armpits, but if you liked the area, that's what matters. the problems are not hidden, so they obviously didn't bother you.

cudahy has always been trailer trash. the biggest difference is that now instead of white trailer trash, its brown.

its very different from bell in my opinion. bell seems nicer.

[the one]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Isn't Bell and all those other adjacent cities-- Bell Gardens, Vernon, Huntington Park, Cudahy, Maywood-- basically the same thing as south Central or Watts?

not in the least.
none of those places are like south central or watts. well maybe HP, but thats because it shares a border with south central. as for the other cities.
vernon does not even have real citizens. maywood and cudahy are just dense with working class people latinos.

most people know nothing of this area. its laughable. vernon is purely industrial. it has about 90 citizens in total. all from the same family. but vernon also borders south central so maybe thats why people assume that.

before the racial line in los angeles was very distinct. black west of alameda(watts, florence, south park, etc). lily white east of alameda (HP, SG, Lynwood).

of course when the browns showed up they moved into all those places causing a black and white flight.