[Right Photo Credit: Flickr user Exuberance.com]
Lancaster. Well, at least from Watts, that’s where a lot of them have moved, according to a story in the New York Times. Disillusioned by crime and an undesirable housing stock, many black Watts residents are moving to sanitized subdivisions in far-flung suburbs. Once a stronghold of the Afro-American community in Southern California associated with riots and a neat tower, Watts has recently become a primarily Latino community. In 1970, Watts was 90% black and 8% Latino; in 2000 it was 38% black and 61% Latino. Meanwhile, the black population in Lancaster has doubled to 16% of the total population. We just can’t help but appreciate the irony of racial diversity in tract housing.
· Watts Changes, and a Mainstay Bids it Farewell [NY Times]