Optimism Amid Diversity, Adversity : Lynwood: A lot of friendly people live in this multicultural community, which looks forward to the 1993 completion of the Century Freeway.

When Ora Jefferson was growing up in South-Central Los Angeles, she would drive through Lynwood with friends. She admired the well-tended houses and tree-lined streets. “I always said I wanted to live in Lynwood someday,” she said.

In 1977, after she married Ron Jefferson, a warehouse worker for the L.A. County Department of Public Works, the couple began looking in Lynwood for a three-bedroom house with two baths.

They finally found a house with a two-car garage and spacious backyard on a quiet street, and although the house had only one bath, they bought it.

“It was in good condition, and the location made it easy for us to visit our families in South-Central Los Angeles and go shopping in Lakewood or Carson,” Ora said.

In their 13 years in Lynwood, the Jeffersons have seen many changes.

“There are more children on our street than when we moved here,” Ron said. “The ethnic makeup of the city has changed too. During the past two years, more Latino families have moved in.”

Lynwood, predominantly a city of tidy, single-family homes, is bounded by South Gate on the north, the Los Angeles River on the east, Compton on the south and Willowbrook, an unincorporated county area, on the west.

Long a working-class community, Lynwood traces its roots to a family-owned dairy. In 1902, C. H. Sessions decided to name his business the Lynwood Dairy and Creamery in honor of his wife’s maiden name, Lynne Wood.

Resident Gene Green, a former mayor, had a milk route in Lynwood before World War II. “In the late ‘30s there were still a number of small dairies in Lynwood,” said Green, who moved up to become a dairy sales manager.

“I thought it was a nice, clean community,” he said. “After the war was over, my wife, Elizabeth, and I bought a lot and had a contractor build our house.”

The postwar period brought prosperity to Lynwood, and the factory corridor along Alameda Street grew. New residents flocked to the area to buy attractive houses with government-backed loans.

Ethel and Edward Pacheco and their three sons moved to Lynwood in 1949, purchasing their three-bedroom stucco home with a GI loan. Edward was a metal polisher, Ethel a shoe designer.

“We were the only Hispanics on the street at that time,” Ethel said. “The neighbors were so friendly they had a welcome party for us.”

In 1962, Lynwood was named All-American City by the National Municipal League, a title that the town still claims. By the late 1960s, however, Lynwood was hurt as Caltrans began buying houses in the heart of the residential area for the Century Freeway. The freeway, with the Green Line light rail running down its center, is scheduled to open in September, 1993.

“About 11,000 homes and apartments were taken and the city’s tax base diminished,” said Louis Heine, a retired elementary school principal who now serves on the City Council. Business along Long Beach Boulevard was all but destroyed by the threat of the freeway, Heine said.

“The freeway was a huge problem,” says Marilyn Cabaret, a 31-year resident who is the business-license representative in the city clerk’s office.

“People were frightened. Landwise, it split the town in half. The freeway has taken over 25 years to build. After people moved out of the homes in the path of the freeway, the houses sat vacant for years. Many businesses began to leave, too,” she said.

In the early 1970s, changes in the city’s racial makeup, which had been predominantly white, were also unsettling to some residents.

“Whites moved out in droves because they were afraid of the impact of integration and the freeway,” Cabaret said. “My husband and I stayed because we wanted our children to get along with people who were different. I don’t regret our decision. I have made friendships I wouldn’t have if we had moved.”

Said Lynwood’s mayor, Robert Henning: “Our biggest challenge in city government is serving an ethnically diverse community.”

Although the City Council is made up of three blacks, a Hispanic and an Anglo, there are ethnic groups that are unrepresented--Samoans, American Indians and Asians, said Henning, an employment development supervisor for the state.

“We can’t just think of our own culture. In the long run people here get along,” he said. “Originally there was a white flight when the blacks moved in. Now there is another shift in the population as blacks move away and Latinos move in.”

Lynwood residents do seem to get along.

“I haven’t seen any racially motivated criminal acts in Lynwood,” says Det. Bill Winn, who oversees crime statistics for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which provides police service under contract to the city.

Winn says that the crime rate in Lynwood is typical of a densely populated urban area. While there is considerable gang activity, he said, for the most part it is safe to walk around in the daytime.

“Race isn’t a big problem in Lynwood,” said Barbara Newton, who with her husband bought their ‘50s-era four-bedroom home in 1971. Their youngest daughter went through the Lynwood schools.

“The majority of people here are homeowners and are concerned about the community. I grew up in the Watts-Willowbrook area, but I always wanted to live in Lynwood because of the beautiful homes,” said Newton, a city community affairs commissioner.

The typical Lynwood house is a California stucco built in the late 1940s or early 1950s, with two or three bedrooms, a separate dining room and one or two baths. Lots tend to be large.

South of the Century Freeway, two-story custom homes in LaVinia Manor sell for $180,000 to $200,000. Three-bedroom houses, some with pools, on tree-lined streets adjacent to Lynwood High sell for $160,000 to $230,000.

In the neighborhood close to South Gate, near Abbott Road, two- and three-bedroom homes with family room sell for $150,000 to $180,000. First-time buyers will find two-bedroom, one-bath homes on lots of about 5,000 square feet for $120,000 to $135,000 or less.

Residents speak proudly of a pocket of mansions on Cedar and Agnes avenues, near the high school. The most expensive houses in Lynwood, these 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot homes are set on deep lots. One house even has an indoor swimming pool. The mansions sell in the $300,000 range, when they come up for sale at all.

Many Lynwood residents are active in city government, and Tuesday-evening council meetings are well-attended. Hot issues can bring out a crowd of several hundred.

Revitalizing the business corridors along Atlantic, Long Beach and Martin Luther King (formerly Century) boulevards is a major concern, but residents differ on the type of development they favor. Most oppose mini-malls and swap meets.

Longtime residents also fear that illegal garage conversions and multiple families in one house increase density and affect the city’s stability. In spite of the city’s desire to retain a preponderance of single-family homes, houses are sometimes purchased by several families to share expenses.

“People want to keep things the way they are, but this may not be possible in a multiethnic society,” said Kendrick Karifa-Johnson, director of community development.

Now that the Century Freeway is nearing completion, residents express optimism about Lynwood’s future, while acknowledging problems.

Most feel that the city has a bad reputation that is undeserved. They point with pride to the 34 churches, the parks and the various community festivals, such as the Miss Lynwood pageant and the annual Youth Merit Awards dinner held in the spring to honor outstanding students.

“We are trying to upgrade the community,” said Mayor Henning, citing the $1.5 million the city has just spent on new sidewalks.

Henning feels that the optimism will encourage new residents to come to the community. “You do get a lot for your money here,” he said.

“I think Lynwood houses will get more expensive when the freeway opens, because it will be easier to get to the airport area, “ said broker Fran Cox. About 98% of her sales, she said, are to Hispanics.

Ana Amezquita, a secretary at Century 21 Arrow Realty, and her husband, Rodolfo, an car painter, bought their first home in Lynwood last summer.

The 40-year-old two-bedroom has a separate dining room and a large yard. It was in good condition, reported the couple. “Our house was a good buy at $115,000,” Amezquita said.

“The neighborhood is mixed black and Latino,” she added. “When we moved in the people on both sides came over to introduce themselves.”

AT A GLANCE Population

1990 estimate: 58,114

1980-90 change: 19.7%

Median age: 25.8 years

Annual income

Per capita: $7,669

Median household: $24,279

Household distribution

Less than $15,000: 29.5%

$15,000 - $30,000: 30.9%

$30,000 - $50,000: 28.2%

$50,000 - $75,000: 9.5%

$75,000 +: 1.8%