Koreatown, Los Angeles, California

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Koreatown (often abbreviated K-town^{[citation needed]}) is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire district of the city of Los Angeles, California. Home to a population of 340,000 and covering just under 5-square-mile (13 km²),^[1] it has the highest population density of all neighborhoods in Los Angeles^{[citation needed]}. Only Midtown Manhattan, downtown Manhattan, parts of San Francisco, and Chicago's North Side neighborhoods rank higher in density in the United States^{[citation needed]}.

The neighborhood is in the midst of a construction boom that has helped fuel an influx of hipsters and gay & lesbian residents priced out from nearby Los Feliz and West Hollywood.^[2] Koreatown is ranked America's 8th Fuel-Efficient Neighborhood for 2008 by Forbes Magazine and is considered one of the top walkable neighborhoods in the nation.^[3]

Today, Koreatown leads Los Angeles in its effort for gentrification. The neighborhood is known for its many commercial and residential mid and high rise towers, its rich collection of pre-1940 brick colonial revival buildings, Asian high fashion boutiques, and holding the largest concentration of nightclubs and 24-hour businesses and restaurants in Southern California. It was also the location of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.^[4]

Contents 1 Geography 2 History 2.1 The Roaring Twenties 2.2 Role during the Hollywood golden age 2.3 Decentralization of Los Angeles 2.4 Korean reinvention 2.4.1 Los Angeles Riots of 1992 2.4.2 Revitalization 3 Neighborhood culture 3.1 Shopping 3.2 Nightlife 3.3 Festivals 3.4 Crime and safety 4 Transportation 5 Economy 6 Government 6.1 Representatives 6.2 Fire service 6.3 Police service 7 Education 7.1 Public schools 7.2 Private schools 7.3 Colleges and universities 7.4 Public libraries 7.5 Other education 8 Parks and recreation 9 Landmarks 9.1 Religious structures 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Geography

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The city of Los Angeles has never set an official boundary for Koreatown and does not recognize any borders claimed by other agencies or offices. The Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Unified School District, Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council (WCKNC), Los Angeles County, US Census Bureau and the Koreatown Cultural Center all maintained their own set of boundaries, none of them in agreement.

The neighborhood is centrally located in the city of Los Angeles. It lies 3 miles (5 km) west of downtown, 4 miles (6 km) south-east of Hollywood, 12 miles (19 km) from Santa Monica Beach and 16 miles (26 km) from Los Angeles International Airport.

The neighborhood is of general flat terrain with an average elevation of 200 feet (61 m); latitude 34.058 and longitude -118.301.^[5]

History

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Recorded settlement of the neighborhood first began in the 1870s. In 1888, the Los Angeles area suffered a real estate land bust and forcing the sale of lots to be sold at $2.50. Henry Gaylord Wilshire had arrived with his family in Los Angeles four years prior and began purchasing lots in the neighborhoods of Hancock Park, Westlake Park and Lafayette Park, including a 35-acre (140,000 m²) tract on the edge of Hancock Park and the north western section of what will later become Koreatown.

In 1887, private funds had been donated to Los Angeles to convert the city dump into Westlake Park, now MacArthur Park. Because Wilshire's property surrounded the future park site, the city negotiated with Wilshire to build a street, bisecting his property in exchange for the street to meet the 120-foot (37 m) width sought by Wilshire and the street bearing his name.

In 1900, Germain Pellisser paid $25 per acre to the Southern Pacific Railway for 160 acres (0.65 km²) between what is now Normandie and Western Avenues to raise sheep and barley. Also settling in the area was Reuben Schmidt, who purchased several acres of land east of Normandie for a dairy farm.

A 1911 donation to a local church by the Chapman Brothers lead to the construction of the Wilshire Christian Church, the first church on Wilshire Boulevard. In 1913, Wilshire Boulevard received its first high-rise building with the construction of the 10-story Bryson Hotel and owned by film actor Fred MacMurray. With Hollywood officially becoming part of the city of Los Angeles, many of its luminaries including Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd built homes in the area as did Los Angeles Times founder General Harrison Gray Otis. Other notable residents, in Los Angeles history, to move into the area were Isaac Van Nuys and G. Alien Hancock.

The Roaring Twenties

In 1920, the Western Avenue Businessmen's Association was formed. The association later became the Wilshire Chamber of Commerce. The following year saw the opening of the Ambassador Hotel on the former site of the Reuben Schmidt dairy farm. Also that year was the construction of the 14-story Gaylord Hotel, the tallest building in Los Angeles at the time and built by Wilshire. The following two years also saw the construction the Asbury, the Langham, the Fox Normandie, the Picadily and the Windsor high-rise apartment buildings. Many of Hollywood's elite live in these elegant New York-style apartment buildings.

Joseph Schenck, president of United Artists, purchased a newly constructed high-rise apartment for his actress wife Norma Talmadge in 1922, which was renamed the Talmadge. The couple lived on the 10th floor. The Doheny family opened the Town House on Wilshire and Commonwealth as an apartment hotel in 1924, later selling the building to Conrad Hilton. The same year saw the installation of the first neon sign in the country at a Packard car dealership on Wilshire Blvd.

Only one year later, Wilshire Boulevard became a tourists attraction for Southern California residents because of the large number of roof-top neon signs. With Westlake Park lake the backdrop for many of his movies, Charlie Chaplin moved to an apartment building he purchased near the Ambassador Hotel. Also taking cue from the move was Gloria Swanson, who moved into an apartment building she purchased across the street from the Ambassador. Swanson and her husband, Herbert Somborn, opened the iconic Hollywood hangout the Brown Derby on Wilshire and Alexandria in 1926.

The world's first drive thru opened in 1929 at the Chapman Market building located on 6th and Alexandria. That same year, department store Bullocks opened its first "suburban" department store on Wilshire and Westmoreland. The 12-story building was modeled after the Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Moderne. Also that year, the Academy Awards ceremony moved from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to the Ambassador Hotel and a section of the Germain Pellessier sheep farm on the corner of Wilshire and Western became the construction site of what would be the crown jewel of the Warner Brothers theater chain. The theater, and adjoining 12-story Pellessier building, opened in 1931 and the following year renamed the Wiltern Theater.

Role during the Hollywood golden age

The 1930s saw the height of the area's association with Hollywood. The Ambassador Hotel hosted the Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1934.^[6] The now Koreatown area began to be referred to as the Upper Eastside of the West Coast. Hollywood's elite continued to settle in the neighborhood as did the city's leading families such as the Jansses, Banning, Rowan, Mulholland, Hilton, Sepulveda and Windsor. In 1939, I. Magnin opened the first store in the country to be entirely operated by electricity and the first air-conditioned building on Wilshire and New Hampshire.

The Great Depression only slightly affected the development of the neighborhood and before the end of the decade, the neighborhood would rival Beverly Hills and Pasadena in wealth and prestige. Wilshire Boulevard gained international notoriety during this period and was more known than Hollywood Boulevard. Wilshire, between Vermont and Western Avenues was the place to see and be seen and the place to see movie stars strolling the streets during Hollywood's golden era.

With the Ambassador Hotel as anchor, the Brown Derby, Cocoanut Grove club, and Wiltern Theater frequently saw the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Louis Armstrong, Howard Hughes and Julie Andrews, who all resided in the neighborhood at some point.

In 1943, the Ambassador Hotel hosted its 6th and final Academy Awards ceremony. The hotel continued to draw well-known and powerful people of the day including Presidents Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan and an endless list of dignitaries from Queen Elizabeth II to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

In 1951, the Wilshire Center country club and golf range on Wilshire between Mariposa and Normandie was sold to developers following the lifting of the city 13-story height limit. The site became the triple 12-story Tishman Plaza (now the Central Plaza), US Borax building, CNA building (now the Superior Court building) and the Wilshire Plaza.

Decentralization of Los Angeles

Towards the end of the 1950s, the trend to move westward and into the suburbs swept downtown's financial and commercial businesses, many relocating to the neighborhood's business district along Wilshire Boulevard between Vermont and Western Avenues. A number of 20 and 30-story office high-rise buildings were erected during the period in the area including the headquarters of Getty Oil, H.F. Ahmanson & Co., Equitable Life Insurance, Beneficial Financial Group, and Wausau Financial.

As Los Angeles rapidly decentralized along newly constructed freeway corridors, Wilshire Boulevard and the areas surrounding fell into a steep and lengthy decline. Many of the commercial and financial businesses that relocated to the area during the 1950s left the area and moved further west. With property values drastically diminished, the area saw a heavy influx of Koreans during the 1960s, after restrictions on immigration to the United States from East Asia were lifted in 1965.

In 1968, after winning the California primary and Democratic nomination for President, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother to former US President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel. His body was rushed to nearby Good Samaritan Hospital where he was declared dead.

Korean reinvention

In effort to reverse the area's decline, a seven-year study by a community advisory group and the City Planning Department was conducted and the Wilshire Plan was submitted to the Planning Committee of the City Council resulting in the area and its surrounding neighborhoods being declared the Wilshire Center District.

In the 1970s, the Heavy-Chemical Industry Drive initiated by South Korean president Park Chung Hee, which displaced much of Korea's petit bourgeoisie, resulted in even more Koreans settling in Wilshire Center, part of which was soon rechristened "Koreatown." Korean immigrants established a permanent foothold of the area with the opening of the Korean Youth and Community Center in 1974. The neighborhood, at the time, had an estimated 70,000 Korean immigrants.

In 1988, the city of Pomona, east of Los Angeles, enacted an ordinance requiring business displaying foreign alphabetical characters and words to devote "at least" 1/2 of their sign in English characters. The ordinance was phrased to impact generally Asian American owned businesses but was enforced to hamper Korean owners particularly.^[7] Similar ordinances were also passed in the neighboring cities of Monterey Park, San Gabriel and Rosemead.

Support for a similar ordinance in the city of Los Angeles also began to grow but backers quickly realized that the rapidly growing Latin population, along with the Asian and Middle Eastern (particularly Armenian and Iranian) had the sheer number to strike down any such restriction in free speech and cultural pride.

In 1989, a US Federal District Court judge struck down the Pomona ordinance as unconstitutional for placing restrictions on the First Amendment right to free speech and Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection.

Los Angeles Riots of 1992

On the afternoon of April 29, 1992, a Los Angeles area jury acquitted four white LAPD officers in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. What ensued after is known as the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, or Rodney King Riots. During the following six days, the city of Los Angeles and neighboring communities experienced the largest civil unrest in Los Angeles since the 1965 Watts Riots. Los Angeles experienced massive looting, murders, fires, property damage, racial brawls along major intersections, power outages, loss of phone services, cancellation of all entertainment and sports events, and altered flight schedules due to gunfire at Los Angeles International Airport.

Koreatown experienced the hardest crime and destruction of the ordeal.^{[citation needed]} Hundreds of Korean owned businesses were looted, damaged or burnt down and an unknown amount of Koreans physically attacked. By the second day of rioting, the LAPD and County Sheriff had been overpowered by the number of rioters forcing the departments to pull all units from patrol. As violent rioters next turned its attention to firefighters, the LAFD also recalled their teams. This left unchecked crime and fires which quickly expanded. The Korean American community, seeing the police force's abandonment of Koreatown,^{[citation needed]} organized gun-wielding groups of vigilantes to protect businesses and area residents.^{[citation needed]} Open gun battles were televised live as Korean shopkeepers took to shooting at people, many times indiscriminately^{[citation needed]}, to ward off the crowds of violent looters.^{[citation needed]}

Order was restored on the sixth day of rioting after a mandatory curfew, lock down, and state of emergency had been declared. At its peak, the deployment of the National Guard, brigades from the 7th Infantry Division based at Fort Ord, Marines from the 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton, US Coast Guard from the 11th District, federal officers including FBI, Federal Protective Service, Immigration & Customs Enforcement and Justice Department assisted the LAPD, Los Angeles County Sheriff, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Fire Department, and the police departments of Bell, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Long Beach, Maywood, Vernon, Torrance, Culver City, Gardena and Hawthorne.

By the time the riots ended, 54 lives were lost, 2,383 people injured (228 critical), 12,111 arrested, 7,001 fires set, 1,400 structures destroyed, 3,100 businesses looted, and an estimated material damage of $1 billion.^[8] Over 15,000 military and federal officers with 2,000 military Humvees, 20 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 5 AH-64 Apache helicopters, and the visual presence of F-15 fighters complimented the combined police presence of 16,000 officers.

There are numerous beliefs as to a reason why Koreatown experienced the heaviest brunt of the riots, from its proximity to Crenshaw Boulevard, a major thoroughfare largely populated by African Americans to the south, the many electronic stores in the area, the large display of wealth among its residents (mostly women), to an unfair portrayal of Koreans in area media and the de facto segregation of Los Angeles.

The aftermath of the event saw a large percentage of Korean residents flee to Orange County and the San Fernando Valley. Many business owners did not reopen or repair their businesses, leaving the area with block after block of burnt down or abandoned buildings. Property values dipped below the notoriously poor areas of East Los Angeles and South Central. With the changes, the area experienced a vacuum that was largely filled by Latinos. By 1999, Latinos accounted for 75% of Koreatown's population, up from 10% while the Korean population dropped from 34% to just under 10%.

Revitalization

In 2000, the city of Los Angeles began to promote smart-growth and removed many of the parking, low-housing, bed, pollution, tourist and new construction taxes that placed restrictions on any development and growth. With very little open land left in the city, the city eyed pre-1980's Koreatown as the ideal and model for the future of L.A. Most importantly however, Koreatown is in the center of the city of Los Angeles. Its diversity, density and self-sufficient economy, large number of pre-1940's buildings (a rarity in LA Metro) is seen as a way to relieve the city of its traffic problems and continued population growth, encourage commercial development, and take back the population and its tax dollars from the suburbs that had been bleeding the city of funds.

With the collapse of the Japanese economy and stagnant Korean economy, many in those countries eyed Los Angeles as a bargain, with a pre-fab Koreatown particularly for being the nearest to a densely populated and skyscraper friendly Tokyo and Seoul. As Korean and Japanese investment began to mount, so did construction in the area. As former Koreatown business owners and residents took notice in new Asian development, many began to use the new interest of Koreatown as a catalyst to return.

During the same time, Los Angeles completed the purple leg of its new subway system with three stops in Koreatown along skyscraper laden Wilshire Boulevard. This inspired even more interest back in the community with increased construction and population growth. With signs of revitalization seen in other parts of the city, notably Hollywood and downtown, Los Angeles and the areas transportation agency MTA broke down the barriers and walls to introduce the city to gentrification. And it did so by removing all restriction above the MTA Metro subway system and encouraged developers to build high. As the end point for the Purple Line and its three stations, Koreatown has greatly benefited from the line and the city's smart-growth promotion.

Since the smart-growth adoption of the city council, Koreatown has bloomed with new construction permits, adaptive re-use requests, and will serve as the terminus to Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, West LA and Santa Monica along the extension of the subway system.

Furthering its gentrification roll-out, Koreatown was designated a special graphics district (along with Hollywood and the downtown neighborhood of South Park/LA Live) by the city of Los Angeles in late 2008. The designation allows for digital signage and electronic billboards, currently not permitted by city code, to be installed on building facades allowing for Times Square and Shibuya District inspired buildings lined with LCD jumbotrons. The 300 square block graphics district is bordered by 6th Street and Olympic Blvd. from the north and south, and St. Andrews Place and Shatto from the west to east.^[9]

Koreatown now brims with vibrant nightlife and commerce, and the construction of mid-high end residential buildings, including numerous apartments and condominiums continues to attract new residents. Recently, Koreatown has been infused with college students due to inexpensive housing, public transit to UCLA and USC, and a vibrant nightlife.

Neighborhood culture

Koreatown is among the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States.^{[citation needed]} Though the Latino community as a whole is the largest ethnic demographic in Koreatown, Korean-Americans are the single largest national demographic at 18% followed by those of Mexican ancestry at 15%, White 14%, African-American 8%, Salvadoran 7%, Colombian 6%, Vietnamese 5%, Armenian 5%, Bolivian 4%, Thai 4%, Greek 3%, Persian 3%, Chinese 3%, other 3%, and Peruvian 2%.^[10]

With its rich diversity, an emergence of a new multiculturalism between the Korean and Latino populations in Koreatown has begun to foreshadow an unprecedented change for American history. Most Korean businesses draw their employees, and in many cases customers, from the surrounding area's large Latino population. The relationship is such that Korean business owners are learning Spanish in increasing rates and Latinos learning Korean. Several Korean churches and community centers in Koreatown offer free Spanish and Korean to local residents. It is not rare to find Latino employees in restaurants and grocery stores speaking Korean with customers or Korean store owners engaging Latino customers in Spanish.^[11]. Moreover, it is common to see Korean American customers eating in Latino restaurants and Latino American customers eating in Korean restaurants. A very visual sign of this rich and unique cultural exchange between Koreans and Latinos in Koreatown is the recent popularity of Korean inspired taco trucks in LA.^[12].

Shopping

Cultural experience can be immediately felt just by stepping into one of Koreatown’s shopping centers. A variety of fashion, jewelry, electronics, cosmetics, gifts and other goods will be found— many of them imported directly from Korea.

Nightlife

The local scene in Koreatown is unlike any other seen in Los Angeles, having the feel of a mini-Seoul: it is dotted with all-Korean signs and menus, many times with no translations; its nightlife atmosphere often give the impression that in Koreatown after dark, different rules apply.

The neighborhood has over 1,100 night-time establishments which includes numerous bars, clubs, restaurants, spas, noraebangs (karaoke studios), dancehalls, theaters, poolhalls, coffeehouses, Hookah Lounges and internet parlors.

Though not well-known to non-residents and understandably skipped by tourists in search of Hollywood, Koreatown is the nearest to a 24-hour district in Los Angeles, and has the highest concentration of nightclubs and restaurants in Southern California.^[13]

Though it is against California state law, smoking is tolerated everywhere—outdoors, indoors, sometimes right under the No Smoking sign. Its also a non-secret that a sizable number of businesses serve liquor after 2 a.m. LAPD cites alcohol violations in the form of after hours sales and sales to minors as a "big problem."^[14]

A smorgasbord of restaurants can be found in Koreatown from every type and culture. From tofu houses, Korean BBQ, Mexican taco stands, bakeries, Greek gyros, pizza, Vietnamese Pho noodle houses, Thai, Salvadoran pupuserías, boba parlors, Chinese to American hamburger joints, coffee houses and steakhouses, its not uncommon to find all of these types of restaurants in one Koreatown plaza.

Festivals

Koreatown holds three annual festivals. The Korean Festival & Parade is held along Olympic Blvd. and marches to the Seoul Peace Park. The Wilshire Center Business Improvement District (WCBID) holds the annual Earth Day / Car Free Day Festival [2] every April 22 on Wilshire Blvd. The City of Los Angeles holds the Earth Day Expo along Wilshire Blvd every June. Thai consulate holds the Indonesian festival every August at Mariposa Ave and Wilshire Blvd. The Greek Festival is held every September along Normandie and the St. Sophia Cathedral.

Crime and safety

Recent media coverage of Koreatown has lead to the misconception of high-crime activity within the neighborhood. Adding to the belief is the memory of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Though individual numbers for the various classified crimes rank mid to high among the city's districts, when resident population and the area's density is used to determine rates, Koreatown is not a high-crime rate area^[14] and ranks among the 20 safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, out of the city's 90 neighborhoods.

Transportation

Koreatown has some of the best public transportation in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Residents benefit from the service of four public transportation agencies.

The MTA operates two subway lines - the Red Line, which runs northwest-southeast from North Hollywood to Downtown LA along Vermont Avenue, and the Purple Line, which runs east-west along Wilshire Boulevard downtown. In late 2008, residents of Los Angeles County passed Measure R which will increase local sales tax to a rate of 8.75% and funnel the estimated $40 billion it will generate solely to public transportation and freeway improvement. This will allow the Metro to move forward with its largest project, the extension of the Purple Line from its current Wilshire and Western end point to Santa Monica Beach.

In addition to the two subway lines serving Koreatown, the MTA operates numerous Express, Rapid and local bus lines through the district. Rapid lines include the 710 Crenshaw, 720 Wilshire, 728 Olympic, 754 Vermont, 757 Western and the 920 Wilshire Express. Local lines include the 207 Western, 20 & 21 Wilshire/Westwood, 204 Vermont and 206 Normandie. Many MTA bus lines in Koreatown offer 24 hour service.

The LADOT operates three district to district DASH routes, one Commuter Express line and Cityride. Koreatown is served by the Wilshire/Hollywood line, the Western/Vermont line, and the Vermont/Hollywood DASH line. The DASH lines are meant for local neighborhood transportation with routes tiny in comparison to MTA lines. Line service ends before 8pm weekdays with less frequent service on weekends. Commuter Express line 534 Century City provides weekday service while Cityride offers door to door dial-a-ride service for the elderly and disabled.

Foothill Transit services one express line in Koreatown, line 481. It operates only during weekday rush hours and runs from Wilshire and St. Andrews to El Monte Bus Station.

Economy

Asiana Airlines operates a sales office in Koreatown.^[15] Korean Air's United States Passenger Operations headquarters are located in close proximity to Koreatown in the Westlake community.^[16] Grupo TACA operates a Los Angeles-area TACA Center in Suite 100P at 3600 Wilshire Boulevard.^[17]

The Consulate-General of South Korea in Los Angeles is located at 3243 Wilshire Boulevard.^[18] The Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Los Angeles is located at 443 Shatto Place, while the passport and visa office is on the third floor of 500 Shatto Place.^[19]

South Korean investment has been a large contributor to the neighborhood economy since the 1960s. Since the early 2000s, that investment has increased greatly, ballooning to an estimated $1 billion dollar in new construction investment.^[20]

Since the adoption by the Los Angeles City Council of smart growth and the subsequent removal of zoning laws and tax fees, Japanese investment has notably increased as well as interest from the UAE firm Dubai Holding.^{[citation needed]}

Government

The Wilshire Center - Koreatown Neighborhood Council is the area's local government agency. The council's boundaries include Koreatown & Wilshire Center, as well as parts of MacArthur Park, Hancock Park, and Mid-Wilshire.

Representatives

Koreatown lies within District 4 of the city of Los Angeles and is represented on the city council by Tom LaBonge. The area is represented by Mark Ridley-Thomas, Supervisor of District 2 for Los Angeles County. Diane Watson, Congresswoman of District 33 is the area representative in the US Congress.^[21]

Fire service

Four Fire Stations of the Los Angeles Fire Department serve the community of Koreatown respectively:

Station 29 serving Southwest Koreatown at Wilshire Blvd. and Wilton Avenue.
Station 13 serving Southeast Koreatown at Pico Blvd. and Westmoreland Avenue.
Station 52 serving Northwest Koreatown at Melrose Avenue and Western Avenue.
Station 6 serving Northeast Koreatown at Temple Street and Virgil Avenue.

Police service

Los Angeles Police Department provides police service to the City of Los Angeles, broken up into twenty one local divisions. Koreatown is served by Olympic Division. The new station completed construction and opened for service on January 4, 2009. The entirety of Koreatown is contained within the borders of Olympic Division.

Education

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Public schools

The Los Angeles Unified School District serves Koreatown residents as Local District 3 and 4.^[22] Traditionally, the following schools serve the residents of Koreatown:

Cahuenga Elementary School, Kim Elementary School, Alexandria Avenue Elementary School, Hobart Boulevard Elementary School, Mariposa-Nabi Primary Center [www.lausd.net/Mariposa-Nabi_PC], Los Angeles Elementary School, Virgil Middle School, Berendo Middle School, West Adams Preparatory High School, Camino Nuevo Charter High School, Los Angeles High School, Fairfax High School, Belmont High School, Ambassador Education Complex (2010 completion date),

Private schools

Several private schools can also be found in Koreatown. Those schools include Mid-Wilshire Christian School, Wilshire Blvd. Temple, St. Brendan School, Plymouth School, St.Gregory Nazianzen, St. James School, Point Sat Academy, Pilgrim Commonwealth School, and LA Academy. Furthermore, Wilshire School, the only Korean-American K-6 elementary school in the nation, operates just down the street on Wilshire Boulevard, in the prestigious Hankock Park area of Los Angeles.

Colleges and universities

Koreatown lies within the Los Angeles Community College District. Its nearest campus Los Angeles City College (LACC) is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Koreatown in East Hollywood. The Pacific States University^[23] lies south area of Korea town, where professional and international students enroll the business school.

In part for being centrally located and heavily serviced by public transportation, the Mid-Wilshire section of Los Angeles holds a high concentration of colleges, trade, technical and religious schools; the majority of which line Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue.^{[citation needed]}

List of schools in the Korean Town area:

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• Academy of Art & Technology
• American Career College
• Art Institute (Ai)
• Angeles College of Nursing
• Bryman College, now known as Everest College
• California International University
• Casino College of Los Angeles
• Southwestern University School of Law
• Central Nursing College
• Cinema Makeup School
• Chong Shin University
• College of National Wide
• California Design College (CDC College)
• Eaton College Conversatory
• East West Reformed Seminary
• Fashion College of Southern California
• Los Angeles College International
• Los Angeles City College
• Prefered College of Nursing
• West Coast University
• Hubbard College
• Latis Career College
• New Bridge University
• Shepard University School of Music
• Serendipity College
• National Bartenders Bartending School
• Los Angeles Pacific College
• Los Angeles Institute of Architecture
• Los Angeles Beauty School
• Pacific States university
• Stanislavsky College of Accounting
• Southern Baptist Clergy & Seminary
• Walter Jay M.D. an Educational Center^[24]
• Westwood College
• World Mission University

Public libraries

• Pio Pico Koreatown Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library serves the area.

Other education

The Korean Education Center, affiliated with the government of South Korea, is located in Suite 200 at 680 Wilshire Place.^[18]

Parks and recreation

The Hollywood-Wilshire YMCA operates the Wilshire Youth Program Center^[25] in Wilshire Center, serving children and teenagers. It will be upgraded to a full-service facility starting in 2008.

The Seoul International Park,^[26] a city park, has ball fields and a recreation center.

Landmarks

Wilshire Christian Church

St. Basil Catholic Church

Wilshire Boulevard Temple

The historic Chapman Market today

• Koreatown Plaza
• Koreatown Galleria

Religious structures

• First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles
• Oriental Mission Church (OMC)
• World Agape Mission Church (세계 아가폐 선교 교회)

There are many smaller churches in the area, as well as Korean Buddhist temples and the Zen Center of Los Angeles.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics

References

External links

• List of Korean-American Churches in Los Angeles Area
• Wilshire Center - Koreatown Neighborhood Council
• Ordinances discriminating against Korean-owned businesses.
• Asian American Business Group v. City of Pomona, 716 F. Supp. 1328 (C.D. Cal. 1989).
• US Census 2000 Statistics for Los Angeles

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