A residential community in a sea of...

By MAKI BECKER

Oct. 18, 1996 12 AM PT

A residential community in a sea of industry. That, according to City Manager Ronald L. Lindsey, is the unofficial slogan of the itty-bitty city of Maywood.

The 1.1-square-mile community is surrounded by the more heavily industrialized cities of Vernon, Bell, Commerce and Huntington Park in southeast Los Angeles County. And with a population of about 30,000, Lindsey says, it is the most densely populated city in California.

But if you ask folks around Maywood City Hall, the first thing they will tell you is that it has retained a small-town flavor.

Lindsey, who worked his way up from a $1.75-an-hour part-time job with the parks department in 1971 to his current position, says, “It’s still one of the places that seems as though you know everyone.”

Mayor Henry Santiago Jr., who is also the varsity football and baseball coach at Bell High School, describes Maywood as being “a lot like Mayberry. It’s a small, warm, little town.”

Ed Ahrens, the assistant chief administrative officer, says, “People can feel like they are a part of the community here. It’s an open-door kind of thing. We don’t have quite the same bureaucracy that bigger cities have. For instance, people can knock on my door.”

Local legend has it that Maywood was named after a young woman--possibly a secretary--at the Laguna Land Corp., which owned most of the land in the area back in 1919. She was a “popular local woman,” Ahrens said, and the community voted to name the town after her. The city was incorporated in 1924.

In the pre-World War II days, the city was known as a cozy getaway for residents of the tony Silver Lake area who owned little cottages along the Los Angeles River, Lindsey said.

“The river was a little different then,” Lindsey said. “It would flood all the time. Consequently, we have great soil now. You can grow a lot of good stuff.”

Throughout its history, the city has fought off annexation attempts by Huntington Park, Bell and other cities. Maywood has also seen great change. Once a “lily white” community, Lindsey said, it is now 93% Latino, made up mostly of Mexican Americans.

Lindsey noted that Maywood experienced a serious bout of white flight in the 1960s and ‘70s when white property owners rented out their homes.

More recently, Lindsey said he has seen a surge in extended immigrant families getting together to buy property in Maywood.

Along with retail outlets, there are a couple of industrial sites in Maywood, officials said, including a Dunn-Edwards paint factory and several sewing shops.

Perhaps the greatest problem the city is facing today is gangs, Lindsey said. To address that issue, the city has implemented an Explorer program run by the Police Department to deter at-risk youth from turning to a criminal lifestyle.

Among developments plans for Maywood is a two-wing structure at Maywood Park that would house a recreation facility, a senior citizens center and a preschool.

By the Numbers

CITY BUSINESS

Incorporated: Sept. 2, 1924

Square miles: 1.1

Number of city parks: 2

City employees: 57 fulltime; 34 part time

1995-96 operating budget: $4 million

ETHNIC MAKEUP

Latino: 93%

White: 6%

Asian: 1%

Black / Other: 1%