Leimert Park

Leimert Park is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s as a mainly residential community, it features Spanish Colonial Revival homes and tree-lined streets. The Life Magazine/Leimert Park House is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

Leimert Park Village, the shopping district, is a cultural mecca with the character of Greenwich Village. Leimert Park itself is a triangular park at 43rd Place. The village is a one-square block bordered by Crenshaw Boulevard, Leimert Boulevard, 43rd Street, and 43rd Place. Leimert Village’s main street, however, is Degnan Boulevard. With its two-story Mediterranean-style buildings, it runs through the center of the block. developer Walter H. Leimert sold off the first units of his carefully planned community to eager white buyers. The homes were so idyllic that the Los Angeles Times sponsored a "house beautiful" educational campaign in Leimert Park, staging several homes with the newest designs in furniture, glassware, drapery, tile work, and floor coverings. The campaign drew an astounding 16,000 visitors on the first day, and several hundred thousand more in the following weeks.

In the next nine years, Leimert erected 417 single-family homes, 170 duplexes and multi-family apartments, and scores of business properties, and vacancy rates never exceeded 1-2%. In other words, Leimert Park was a masterful business enterprise that created a beautiful, multi-use community, surrounding a small park that Leimert donated to the city.

Like most desirable areas of the City, however, Leimert Park remained off-limits to African Americans until 1948, when the United States Supreme Court declared racially restrictive covenants legally unenforceable in its landmark decision, Shelley v. Kraemer. Leimert Park sits just east of Crenshaw Blvd and is a beautiful neighborhood with tree-lined streets and American Colonial, Colonial Revival, and Spanish Revival Architecture. Homes range between 1200-3500 sq. ft. and were built with high-quality craftsmanship and detail. Many visitors to the area remark on its similarity to Miracle Mile.

The area is full of wonderful culture, musicians, and artists and has a great grassroots vibe. Long-time residents and new buyers love the proximity to Downtown LA, and the walkability to Leimert Park Village. Soon the area will benefit from three large underground train stops along Crenshaw Blvd that are part of the Crenshaw LAX Metro Line (due to be completed in 2018). Over the last few years, several art galleries have popped up in Leimert Park Village, which is run by renowned artist Mark Bradford, and additional plans and developments are coming to and along Leimert Park over the next 5 years.