Community Profile / Pacoima

L.A. Times Archives

Feb. 1, 1998 12 AM PT

A few years ago, Pacoima was a struggling community, having been hit hard by the recession, 1994 Northridge earthquake and defense downsizing.

Now Pacoima is on the rebound, bolstered by a variety of government programs geared toward retaining busineses, adding jobs and increasing homeownership.

Upgrading the appearance of the area has also been a focus for the predominantly Latino resdients and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon alike. “It’s a very good community with very hard-working people, “he said. “They recognize they have challenges.”

CURRENT ISSUES

ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION: Several programs exist in Pacoima intended to improve the quality of life for residents and help the businesses rebound. Among them:

* Federal empowerment zone: Offers a $3,000 tax credit per employee hired from within the zone’s core. To take effect by 2000.

* Federal loan program: Aimed at counteracting damage done by the North American Free Trade Agreement, including 500 jobs lost when faucet manufacturer Price Pfister moved part of its operations to Mexico.

* Enterprise zone: One of five in Los Angeles--the only one in the San Fernando Valley--offering business tax breaks on hiring, sales and new equipment.

* Pacoima 2000: Launched last fall by several nonprofit public and private entities under the name Local Development Partnership, aimed at increasing homeownership and jobs.

* Pacoima Urban Village: Another improvement program offering an array of support services and resources to boost self-sufficiency of families.

BEAUTIFICATION: Pacoima Beautiful, a nonprofit group, is hoping to improve the community’s business district along Van Nuys Boulevard over a three-year period. With the use of $3 million in federal funds, earmarked for Pacoima by the city of Los Angeles’ Targeted Neighborhoods Initiative, a 1.5-mile stretch of the street is expected to undergo a complete make-over.

AREA HIGHLIGHTS

ACTIVITIES: For more than two decades the Pacoima Community Youth Culture Center has worked to improve the lives of the area’s young people by keeping them away from drugs and off the streets.

The center offers various counseling programs, parenting classes, tutoring, karate, piano and dance classes.

David M. Gonzales-Pacoima Recreation Center is a popular community center. The center offers low-cost morning preschool and a three-hour after-school program enabling students from nearby schools to participate in arts, crafts and sports.

There is a free boxing program, where youths spar in a regulation-size ring, as well as various seasonal sports programs. The center also has a public weight room, baseball and soccer fields and a gymnasium used for a wide array of community activities.

CELEBRITIES: Richard Steven Valenzuela, more commonly known as Ritchie Valens, rose to fame in the late 1950s from a working-class Pacoima neighborhood. His 16-month career ended abruptly in 1959 when he was killed at age 17 in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly and J.P. (the Big Bopper) Richardson.

“La Bamba,” a movie about Valens’ life, sparked a renewed interest in the rock legend, and in 1990 he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1993, a postage stamp bearing his likeness was included in the Legends of American Rock and Roll/Rhythm and Blues Series, and the next year Paxton Park in Pacoima was renamed Ritchie Valens Recreational Center.

When Andrae Crouch sings each week at Christ Memorial Church, members of the congregation are getting more than a chance to hear good gospel music. Crouch is an eight-time Grammy-winning gospel singer who also serves as pastor of the 1,000-member church.

HISTORY

In 1887, Charles Maclay, who just a few years earlier had established the city of San Fernando, sold 1,000 acres of land extending from the Pacoima Wash to the Tujunga Wash to Jouett Allen. Allen kept half the property and subdivided the rest.

Of the subdivided land, 120 acres was named Pacoima, after the nearby canyon and the river flowing from it. Pacoima comes from an Indian term for rushing waters.

As the town developed, lots were sold in pairs and the homes built upon them were required to cost at least $2,000, a considerable sum for the 1890s. One of the Valley’s first orange orchards was planted in Pacoima in 1887. Mrs. E.M. Rose and her children started the orchard by planting seeds from a shipment of Florida oranges.

A depression in 1890 halted the area’s growth until imported water brought people and prosperity back to the area in 1913.

In those early years, the town was known for its citrus orchards, vineyards, vegetables and race horses.

Researched by SHARON MOESER/Special to The Times. Sources: Di Di Renee Barney, business development director for Hope America Inc.; Connie Taylor-Broadous, executive director, Pacoima Community Youth Culture Center; “The San Fernando Valley Then and Now,” by Charles A. Bearchell and Larry D. Fried

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Community Profile (Included Arleta)

Population: 104,849

Median age: 26

Number of households; 23,538

Persons per household: 4.5

Owner-occupied housing units: 65%

Population below poverty level: 17%

Population over 18 with bachelor’s degree or higher: 6%

Income

Average household income is lower than the citywide average.

Pacioma: $38,904