Saturday, June 06, 2009

LA Times Confuses Wilshire District/Koreatown With Westlake District - With - Downtown!

Whenever I see a headline on the LA Times website about a shooting near Downtown - I always fear for the worst.

Not for the victims - though I do worry about them - but at how wrong the headline usually is. And this time - near Downtown - is... supposedly... at 6th and Virgil - which is just before Vermont. And that is a lot nearer to Hollywood than Downtown. It is also in the heart of the Wilshire District, parts of which are often called Koreatown.

But that area is mistakenly - called Westlake - on new new Times map - nothing even near it has never been called since Westlake - and Westlake historically ended at the east side Westlake/McArthur Park itself. Wilshire started at the park - and that is where the Wilshire District started.

And even today - if you want to use non-historical demographic date - the furthest west Westlake can be said to go is Rampart since the demographics of population living starting just west of Rampart is far more like as the rest of the Wilshire District and Koreatown then the demographics of the true Westlake - east of the Park.

The article also says the shooting took place just west of McArthur Park - which it did not - it took place just west of Lafayette Park - which is itself - well west of the Westlake District which is west of Pico-Union which is west of Downtown. And that neighborhood is not a low income community as stated in the article. It is largely a middle class area with many condos and even several streets of upper middle class single family homes.

And, of course, none of these areas are adjacent... much less near.... to Downtown.

Two wounded in shooting near downtown L.A.
5:20 PM | June 6, 2009
At least two people have been wounded in a shooting in Westlake and one person has been arrested, authorities said.

Police are searching for additional suspects, said LAPD Officer Jason Lee. The shooting occurred today shortly before 4 p.m. at 6th Street and Virgil Avenue, where a fight had broken out between two groups of men, Lee said.

By late afternoon, the intersection had been blocked off as police interviewed possible witnesses. Dogs were helping officers search for additional suspects as a police helicopter circled overhead. About two dozen helmeted officers stood by near a command post that had been set up in the neighborhood.

The shootings occurred in a low-income community in Westlake just west of MacArthur Park.

--Ruben Vives and Robert Lopez

1 comment:

Lili C. Love said...

Liked your characterization of where things are in LA. I live just down the street from 6th/Virgil and there are tons of cop cars and helicopter that's been circling for hours.