Baldwin Village, Los Angeles

Geography

In 1988, Baldwin Village became a distinct community in the city's General Plan, and signs were to be posted to identify the area. It is bounded by La Brea Avenue, Marlton Avenue, Obama Blvd, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Santo Thomas Drive.

History

Baldwin Village was developed in the early 1940s and 1950s by architect Clarence Stein, as an apartment complex for young families. Baldwin Village is occasionally called "The Jungles" by locals because of the tropical trees and foliage (such as palms, banana trees and begonias) that once thrived among the area's tropical-style postwar apartment buildings. The Los Angeles City Council changed the name in 1990, after residents complained that it reinforced the neighborhood's image as a wild and menacing place. They renamed it Baldwin Village after the Baldwin Hills neighborhood.

Development

Marlton Square

Development of Marlton Square was stalled in bankruptcy after years of work and millions of dollars of public and private funds until early 2012.

Kaiser Permanente

The neighborhood houses a 100,000 square foot Kaiser Permanente medical office building and outdoor plaza which opened on September 7, 2017.

Costco

A first-of-its-kind, mixed-use development featuring a Costco warehouse club store beneath 800 residential units has broken ground in the neighborhood as of September 2024. Occupying the former site of a cable company facility, the development will include over 180 units of affordable housing and surpass the Baldwin Village Apartments as the largest single residential complex in the area. Originally conceived as only a retail development, the project took advantage of new state laws streamlining development approvals and loosening zoning laws for projects with large amounts of affordable housing.

Education

• Hillcrest Drive Elementary - 4041 Hillcrest Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90008

Media

Film

Baldwin Village served as a location for the 1992 film White Men Can't Jump. The neighborhood also appears in the 2001 film Training Day. The 2025 film One of Them Days is also set in the neighborhood, with the characters referring to it as ‘The Jungles.’

Television

It was also in episode 1 of Season 3 of the NBC television series Southland.

It was a prominent setting in the CBS television series S.W.A.T. episode "Local Heroes" (Season 4, Episode 15).

Music videos

Waka Flocka Flame's "Hard in Da Paint" music video was also filmed in Baldwin Village.

References

References

1. "Council File: 88-1035".
2. Mitchell, John. (1988-06-19). "Village Residents Hope a New Name Means a New Image". [[Los Angeles Times]].
3. Winton, Richard. (May 19, 2011). "Baldwin Village drug trafficking gang targeted in raid led by federal, local authorities". [[Los Angeles Times]].
4. McChesney, Keegan. (April 20, 2016). "FROM RISK TO RESILIENCE: Examining environmental justice indicators in Los Angeles' most climate vulnerable community". [[Occidental College]].
5. Hayasaki, Erika. (September 30, 2006). "Gang Violence Fuels Racial Tensions The fatal shooting of a 3-year-old girl in Baldwin Village escalates friction among blacks and Latinos in the neighborhood.". Los Angeles Times.
6. "Care near you".
7. Lloyd, Jonathan. (2024-09-18). "New Costco with apartments breaks ground in South LA". NBC Los Angeles.
8. Cowan, Jared. (27 March 2017). "Revisiting the Filming Locations of White Men Can't Jump 25 Years Later".
9. "Film locations for Training Day (2001)".
10. (March 8, 2016). "Orbital View: It's The Jungle in There". The Atlantic.
11. (21 July 2010). "Waka Flocka "Hard in Da Paint" (Official Video)".