Quiet L.A. Neighborhood in Eye of the Storm : Willowbrook: Though much of the district is economically depressed, it has pockets of tidy, well-kept homes on tree-lined streets occupied by the original owners.

Back in 1946, soon after the end of World War II, a friend told newlyweds James and Volue Carter of a tract of about 250 houses to be built in Willowbrook, just south of the Los Angeles community of Watts.

Named Carver Manor after the famous black agronomist George Washington Carver, the houses were to be designed by the celebrated African-American architect Paul R. Williams.

“We were looking for an apartment to rent, but we fell in love with the model homes,” Volue Carter recalled.

The Carters selected their home site and then waited a year for their three-bedroom house to be built. The house cost $11,400, a princely sum for the time.

Back in the late 1940s, much of the farmland in the unincorporated county area between Los Angeles and Compton was being converted to tracts of tidy stucco houses for veterans. Because there were streams and willows in the area it was known as Willowbrook.

Today, mature elm trees line the Carters’ street. From the front yard, they can look out at Magic Johnson Park, built on land formerly used by Mobil Oil Co. as an oil and gas tank farm. The park has two lakes stocked with fish, a stream, a jogging path and clusters of trees.

“People along our street know each other through the block club that meets monthly. This is still a quiet neighborhood,” James Carter said.

Carter, a retired county systems technician and administrator, is active in community affairs. As president of the Willowbrook Community Coordinating Council, he has seen many changes in his community.

Redevelopment, the construction of the Century Freeway and Green Line, and the opening of the Blue Line Metro Rail between Long Beach and Los Angeles are altering this community, which until recently has had a predominantly African-American population. As in many parts of South-Central Los Angeles, many new residents, both renters and homeowners, are Latino.

An unincorporated county area, Willowbrook is bounded by Imperial Highway and the Los Angeles community of Watts on the north, El Segundo Boulevard and the city boundaries of Compton on the south, Alameda Street and Lynwood on the east and the Harbor Freeway on the west.

Although some looting and destruction of commercial property did occur in Willowbrook during the recent riots, the community, which is more residential than commercial, fared relatively well in comparison to other sections of South-Central Los Angeles.

Much of the district is economically depressed, but Willowbrook is also a community with pockets of tidy, well-kept homes on tree-lined streets. Many homes are occupied by the original owners of the properties.

“There are streets in Willowbrook where properties haven’t sold in years,” said Leon Love, vice president of the Watts-Willowbrook Chamber of Commerce and the owner/broker of L. Love Realty & Associates in Downey.

Homes in such neighborhoods command the highest prices in the community. In Carver Manor, for example, houses sell for between $135,000 and $145,000, said Cleo Turner, an agent with Una Jones Realty in Compton. Turner said that two-bedroom houses directly south of Martin Luther King Jr. County Hospital, sell for $115,000 to $125,000. Most are on deep lots. A larger house with three bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths would sell between $130,000 and $135,000. Elsewhere in Willowbrook, houses sell in the $80,000 range.

At a gathering at the home of Trudi Stewart, who lives just south of King Hospital, longtime residents chatted about their community, citing easy access to medical care and shopping centers in Lakewood, Lynwood and Compton as neighborhood pluses.

“You can also walk to the new Kenneth Hahn Shopping Plaza or to the hospital,” said Stewart, a community worker with nearby Drew Economic Development Corp. “If you don’t want to walk, you can take the trolley, which goes through the center of Willowbrook. The fare is only a dime.”

Through the years, residents have been attracted to the stability of the area.

“When we moved here in 1946, we had two young sons, one eight months old and the other a little over two years,” Leatrice Johnson said. “We were looking for a new house in a quiet neighborhood.”

“We bought the house for $5,600 and moved in on Jan. 10, 1946,” her husband, Stanley Johnson, a retired service station owner, added. “The house was brand new and had two bedrooms.”

Through the years the Johnsons have added a third bedroom, a den and a laundry room to their house and have expanded their kitchen.

The Johnsons and Stewart are proud of the manicured, gardener-tended lawns and well-maintained stucco homes along their street. They are also optimistic that despite the riots, recent improvements in their community will alter the sometimes negative image the area has had in the past.

In 1977, a large chunk of Willowbrook was designated a redevelopment zone by the County Community Development Commission.

After years of study and planning with residents, several new projects are now completed and others are slated for the immediate future.

The Kenneth Hahn Shopping Center at the corner of Wilmington and 119th Street has a regional library, a supermarket, fast-food restaurants and shops. Ground has been broken for a new Denny’s, a boon for an area which up to now has had few full-service restaurants.

A walkway connects the shopping center with the terminal for the Blue Line Metro Rail between Los Angeles and Long Beach. When it is completed, the Green Line, which follows the route of the Century Freeway, will intersect with the Blue Line here, making Willowbrook a transportation hub.

Willowbrook Green, a new rental housing development adjacent to King Hospital, replaced a formerly blighted area. The 48 two-story townhouse units are occupied by physicians at the hospital, medical residents at nearby Drew Post-Graduate Medical School and other families.

Currently, the County Development Commission is focusing on new single-family housing as a means of upgrading the area.

“The agency plans to purchase land and construct 37 single-family houses along 120th Street between Wilmington and Willowbrook avenues,” said Judith Kendall, director of development for the agency.

The agency also plans to offer low-interest loans for rehabilitation of houses along 119th Street.

To the west along 117th near Compton Avenue, the Drew Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit foundation, is planning to build 10 single-family houses with three and four bedrooms.

“The houses will be offered at low-interest loans and with a low down payment,” said Carla Dartis, the foundation’s president. “Residents will also be helped to learn budgeting and homeowners’ skills necessary to maintaining their properties.”

The agencies believe that redevelopment will turn the tide for the area, which has had a history of discrimination and neglect.

During World War II, thousands of African-Americans from the South who migrated to Southern California to work in defense industries settled in Watts and Willowbrook because restrictive covenants forbade them from living in other communities.

Then as now, the area was multiethnic.

“When we moved to the area in 1946, there were Italians, blacks and Mexican-Americans,” said Manuel Torres.

Torres and his wife, Dora, raised four children in their three-bedroom stucco house.

“Back then it was like living in the country,” he said. “People had rabbits and chickens, and there were several dairies nearby.”

In the early 1960s, the Pacific-Electric Railway line between Long Beach and Los Angeles was discontinued, creating a sense of isolation in the community.

“The higher prices charged by local merchants, poor social services, the perception that the community was ill-treated by police and the overall feelings of frustrations led to the Watts Riots, or Watts Rebellion, in the summer of 1965,” said Leon Love of the Watts-Willowbrook Chamber of Commerce.

The riots also took a toll on nearby Willowbrook.

“There were 15 years of economic boycott of the area, resulting in little development after the riots,” Love said.

The 1965 riots also had a negative effect on real estate prices.

Larry Taylor, a Carver Manor homeowner, first came to the area the year of the riots when his parents bought a Paul Williams-designed house for about $15,000. Taylor was in high school. Despite the turbulent events of that year, his memories of the area are pleasant.

“I will never forget when my parents bought their house here,” he said. “The trees were so beautiful.”

Taylor’s parents still live in the same house. Because he wanted to live near his family, in the early 1980s, he rented a house down the street. In 1983 he was able to buy the three-bedroom, one-bath house for $60,000. His sister now lives on the same street.

“I never hesitate to say I live in Willowbrook,” he said. “Although there is violence in other parts of Willowbrook, this neighborhood is very quiet.”

Security in an area where violence can occur is a concern throughout Willowbrook. As county territory, the area is patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

John Nemeth, operations sergeant at Carson Sheriff Station, says that although there are trouble spots in Willowbrook, there are also quiet neighborhoods where the sheriff’s department seldom receives calls. However, he warns that parents buying into the area should be aware that gangs can be an issue.

“There is a big difference between day and night,” he said. “At night, you can sometimes hear gunshots in the distance.”

The recent riots in South-Central Los Angeles took a toll on Willowbrook, but the new Kenneth Hahn Shopping Center survived untouched.

“The shopping center was locked up and the stores closed, so it wasn’t damaged,” said Marcene Shaw, senior deputy in Supervisor Hahn’s office. “The Boys/Viva Market reopened a few days later.”

In the shopping center at Avalon and El Segundo, Von’s Market, the drug store and small shops were looted, but not burned. Elsewhere, some of the smaller shopping centers and markets were looted and destroyed by fire, Shaw said.

The Carters and other residents of Carver Manor quickly banded together to help clear the Von’s Market area of debris. They are hopeful that the community can rebuild despite recent setbacks.

“I feel that the future of Willowbrook is still optimistic,” Carter said.

Leon Love believes that the area will continue to have a core population of African-Americans, as many families are opting to pass their homes on to their children.

“We hope that improvements coming to the community will also be a draw to bring young African-American professionals back to the area,” he added.

At a Glance Population

1991 estimate: 15,743

1980-91 change: +1.8%

Median age: 28.8 years

Annual income

Per capita: 8,255

Median household: 21,895

Household distribution

Less than $15,000: 35.4%

$15,000 - $25,000: 21.8%

$25,000 - $50,000: 29.2%

$50,000 - $75,000: 11.3%

$75,000 + 2.3%