Pico-Union, Los Angeles

Pico-Union is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. The name "Pico-Union" refers to the neighborhood that surrounds the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Union Avenue. Located immediately west of Downtown Los Angeles, it is home to over 40,000 residents.

The neighborhood contains two historic districts, both listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

It has five public schools as well as a public library.

Geography

Google Maps

Google Maps draws the following boundaries for Pico-Union: Olympic Boulevard on the north, the Harbor Freeway on the east, the Santa Monica Freeway on the south and Hoover St. on the west.

thumb|upright|Map of the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles, as delineated by the Los Angeles Times|right

Mapping L.A. Project

According to the Los Angeles Times Mapping L.A. project, Pico-Union is bounded by Olympic Boulevard on the north, the Harbor Freeway on the east, the Santa Monica Freeway on the south and Normandie Avenue on the west. It also includes the California Highway Patrol station beneath the Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Memorial Interchange northeast of Washington Boulevard.

History

thumb|right|Alvarado Terrace

thumb|right|The [[John Jones and Doria Deighton-Jones|Doria Apartments, a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.]]

The Tongva village of Geveronga was located at the present-site of Pico-Union. It was destroyed in 1781 by Spanish settlers as part of the Anza Expedition who issued a claim to the land and water rights from King Carlos III.

The area was part of the early Pueblo de Los Ángeles settlement in Spanish and Mexican California.

Pico-Union became the city's 19th Historic Preservation Overlay Zone on August 10, 2004. It contains two historic districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places: South Bonnie Brae Tract Historic District and Alvarado Terrace Historic District.

In August 2012, the City of Los Angeles designated a portion of Vermont Avenue in Pico-Union as El Salvador Community Corridor; parts of Pico-Union are also being considered for designation as The Central American Historical District.

The former First Church of Christ, Scientist, once one of Jim Jones' Peoples Temples, was located in Pico-Union, at the corner of Alvarado Street and Alvarado Terrace.

Population

Pico-Union is the fourth-most-dense neighborhood in Los Angeles, surpassed only by East Hollywood, Westlake and Koreatown. The 2000 U.S. census counted 42,324 residents in the 1.67-square-miles neighborhood—an average of 25,352 people per square mile. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 44,664. The median age for residents was 27, considered young for the city and the county.

The median household income in 2008 dollars was $26,424, considered low for both the city and the county. The percentage of households earning $20,000 or less was high, compared to the county at large. The average household size of 3.3 people was relatively high for Los Angeles. Renters occupied 90.5% of the housing units, and home- or apartment owners the rest.

Loyola High School of Los Angeles, private, 1901 Venice Boulevard

Public library

Los Angeles Public Library operates the Pico-Union Branch Library at 1030 South Alvarado Street.

Cemetery

Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery was founded as Rosedale Cemetery in 1884, when Los Angeles was a small city of around 28,000 people, on of land between Washington and Venice boulevards (then 16th Street) between Normandie Avenue and Walton and Catalina Streets.

Notable people

Larry Elder, talk show host and politician
Elizabeth Harrower (1918 - 2003), actress, writer
Jim Jones, founder and the leader of the Peoples Temple
Jacob Kuhrts, 19th Century Los Angeles businessman and politician
Pomeroy Wills Powers, president, Los Angeles City Council, 1900–02
Susan Seaforth Hayes, actress