Crenshaw District, Los Angeles, CA

The Crenshaw District is the stretch of Los Angeles around Crenshaw Boulevard nicknamed The Shaw, and it has long been a hub of Black business and culture in the city. Its Houseberry boundary also reaches Jefferson Boulevard, where a cluster of newer restaurants has turned the area into a dining destination. Side streets hold mostly one-story houses from the 1920s through the 1940s, many with Spanish or bungalow details, along with duplexes and small apartment buildings closer to the boulevards. Food is where the neighborhood shows off. Maydan Market on Jefferson is a cavernous food hall with several vendor stalls, and across the street Highly Likely pours natural wine and serves cafe food from morning on, known for its fried chicken sandwich and breakfast burritos. Parks inside the Crenshaw District are scarce. Leimert Plaza Park is just south, and Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area and the Baldwin Hills trails lie just to the west. Annual events like the Kingdom Day Parade and the Taste of Soul festival bring the whole boulevard out. Daily errands center on Crenshaw Boulevard. Smart and Final covers groceries, and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza is close for bigger shopping. The K Line runs down Crenshaw and meets the E Line at Expo and Crenshaw, which puts downtown, Santa Monica and LAX on the train. The tradeoff is that the 10 Freeway cuts the Crenshaw District off from the neighborhoods to the north, and Crenshaw Boulevard traffic runs heavy through the day. What stays with people is the boulevard itself, lined with longtime local businesses and murals, where a lunch run often turns into a conversation with the owner.