KOREATOWN : Coalition Discovers Common Concerns

Crime, jobs and education are the top concerns of residents, regardless of ethnicity, in Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Westlake and east Hollywood, a coalition of groups and service providers said at a recent community conference.

The Coalition of Neighborhood Developers, a multiethnic alliance of more than 50 organizations representing 10 low-income neighborhoods, will come up with a community planning document and organize efforts to address shared problems, coalition members said.

In surveys and meetings conducted by the coalition over the last 18 months, several hundred residents and merchants talked about their most pressing needs and what they see as the failure of politicians and traditional leaders to respond effectively.

“People are saying, ‘Let’s not wait for government to tell us what’s important or how we can resolve our problems,’ ” said Young-Bin Kim of the Korean Youth and Community Center and a member of the coalition’s planning staff. “What’s been missing is that ordinary people haven’t been involved in the planning and policy-making processes.”

The conference was sponsored by the Mid-Cities planning group of the Coalition of Neighborhood Developers. Programs in each neighborhood are coordinated by a planning group, composed of members of the participating organizations.

The Mid-Cities planning group includes the Korean Youth and Community Center, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, the Central American Refugee Center, the American-Thai Education and Research Institute, Ward Economic Development Corp., the Bresee Institute, the Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates, the Street Vendors Assn., United Latino Families, Los Angeles Eco-Village and the Korean American Coalition.

“This city has never had a mixed group like (this coalition) that is coming together and saying, ‘This is what we need,’ ” Kim said.

The next step for the coalition is to begin organizing residents and merchants into an active group that has some political clout.

For this type of community organizing to succeed, “you need to find people’s self-interest and organize around what matters in their day-to-day life,” Kim said.

Information: Hea-Jin Yoon, (213) 365-9051.