Barriers Anger Jordan Downs Residents

“My granddaddy always told me don’t ever stay at a place where there ain’t but one way in and one way out.”

--Charmaine Ridley, resident of Jordan Downs

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Residents of Jordan Downs are seething about the installation of barricades that block two of the three roads to the main section of the Watts housing project, an action they say has caused major inconvenience, increased traffic, and generally contributed to a sense of isolation already prevalent in the battered complex.

The barricades, concrete planters filled with dirt and small ficus trees, were set up in late April to deter drive-by shootings, officials said.

“One day I heard people saying they were going to put them up, and the next day there they were up,” said Ahmad Spencer, who lives 50 yards from the barricades on Juniper Street.

“How come when they make promises about doing something positive it’s not done in one day?” Spencer asked. “It takes years to do something good around here. I guess they’re gonna put up a gate and some gun towers next, just like at Folsom.”

In fact, the barricades have been years in the making.

The idea for the barriers was first raised seven years ago as a way to prevent drive-by shootings by rival gangs from other Watts housing projects.

“The idea came about during a point in time when the community was deeply concerned about gangs from outside doing drive-bys, “ said Dwayne Williams, a consultant to the project’s Resident Management Corp. “We asked the residents what could be done to curb the activity, and gates were suggested and so were barricades.”

Since then, several developments have occurred to reduce fear of gang violence, most notably the 1992 Watts Gang Peace Treaty, which is still in effect.

The year before the treaty, seven homicides and 163 assaults were reported in Jordan Downs, according to Los Angeles Police Department statistics. Last year, the LAPD recorded no homicides in the complex.

Don Smith, executive director of the Housing Authority of the city of Los Angeles, was surprised when he was told that many residents were upset about the barricades.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work with the community and the RMC, which is their leadership,” said Smith, who noted that drive-by shootings in 1996 were the reason the 1991 plan was reborn.

“It takes away the ability to enter and exit rapidly,” Smith said. “Certainly some inconvenience has been created by the two spots we choked off, but we think it will help reduce shootings.”

The planters were placed at 103rd and Juniper streets and 102nd and Grape streets. That leaves the entrance at 101st and Grape as the only way in and out of the northern end of the complex, which makes up roughly 70% of the 49-acre housing project.

Interviews at Jordan Downs revealed widespread anger about the barriers. Longtime Watts community activist Janine Watkins was among those upset about the barricades.

“They took the wall down in Berlin and resurrected it in Jordan Downs,” she said.

Barry Glickman, chief of staff for Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., whose district includes Watts, said that if the residents are unhappy with the barrier, they need to take it up with their management.

“It wasn’t our idea, it was the management’s,” Glickman said. “They want crime to go down. They want shootings to go down. But when we take some action, they complain. What’s the answer?”

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Charmaine Ridley, 24, and Cartashia Perkins, 19, talked about starting a petition to open up the streets.

“There’s way too much traffic on 101st now,” said Ridley, who added that since the blockage, two children have been hit by cars. “Everybody around here doesn’t like it.”

Smith said he would evaluate any such petition.

“We are sensitive to the issues, but we can’t say they will be removed,” Smith said. “For the time being, they are up permanently.”

Alvin Young, sitting in his car in a small parking lot, looked toward 101st Street as four cars drove by and shook his head.

“What happens if there is a fire and everyone is rushing down this one little street trying to get out?” asked Young. “This place is ripe for a disaster.”