Kansas Ave, South Los Angeles

Vermont Harbor, or Vermont Square as it is sometimes known, is a fairly poor neighborhood a bit to the south of the USC campus. The average household brings in only $30K per year. The homes here are tiny bungalows with tiny front and back yards. Homes almost all date back to WWII.

The neighborhood is in many ways a poster child for urban problems of South Central. Violence and crime ravage the area. Since 2007, there have been 40 murders here, one for every thousand citizens. Aggravated assaults and other mayhem are also a common feature of the area. In the last six months, for example, there have been 4 murders, 15 rapes, 139 assaults and 209 burglaries reported in the neighborhood. That is almost enough to have one incident for every hundred people living here.

Except for a few small charters, schools are dismal across the board as well. Test scores are low and teachers are charged with spending the majority of their time maintaining discipline.

Residents also complain about the area being dirty, with many residents leaving heaps of refuse outside their homes. I have heard these complaints but the few occasions when I have been in the neighborhood, I have not seen it. Homes look relatively clean, though the barred windows and doors were a bit of a downer. The dingy looking stores along the main arteries also looked fairly uninviting.

Along the streets however, you always see people walking around. On the occasions that I have passed by there were some that looked rather scary, playing the gang-banger role to the hilt. But most people seemed to be just going about their days, walking kids home from school, that sort of thing. In fact, there seems to be a lot more foot traffic here than in a lot of neighborhoods, which is a good thing for the environment, I think.

That said, this is a fairly depressing neighborhood. About a third of those that live here are under 18. I imagine that as they get older, those who can manage it, will find a better place to live. I know I certainly would.