When it comes to population density, Koreatown is king

It's often said that the Pico-Union district west of downtown Los Angeles has one of the highest density levels in the nation. The neighborhood of old apartment buildings saw a huge influx of Central American immigrants in the 1980s and '90s. But The Times' Mapping L.A. project found that Koreatown actually has a higher population density level.

Population density measures the number of people per square mile.

• 1. Koreatown 42,609
• 2. Westlake 38,212
• 3. East Hollywood 31,093
• 4. Pico-Union 25,351
• 5. Harvard Heights 23,472
• 6. Chinatown 22,515
• 7. Hollywood 22,150
• 8. Palms 21,983
• 9. Adams-Normandie 21,848
• 10. South Park 21,638

Drilling into L.A. uses Times databases to mine interesting facts and trends about the region.

Central Los Angeles is one of seven regions in Mapping L.A. Join the conversation, share stories about where you live and let us know what we’re missing.

More news from the Central region.


Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Rich Alossi]

Uh-oh. Apparently LA has two "South Parks" now. If the area surrounding the actual South Park in South LA came first, what to do about the area near the convention center?

[Brendon Carr]

Another interesting point of observation: Koreans put the lie to the popular conception that cramming people together leads to crime and social disorder. There is no street in Seoul where I feel any sense of menace -- even all alone at 2:00 a.m. Try to find such a street in Los Angeles! Even in Koreatown, you won't.

[Adam Villani]

Note, though, that all of these are less densely-populated than the borough of Manhattan as a whole, which has 71,201 people per square mile. I'm not sure about the individual neighborhoods in NYC, but since the borough's average is higher than our highest area, then they must have multiple neighborhoods more dense than our densest.

[Jared]

Regarding Koreatown: not only is it the most densely populated part of Los Angeles, according to Teresa Watanabe, in an article in the Los Angeles Times, dated April 27, 2007, as Koreatown gentrifies, many residents still face squalid housing conditions. And, District 10 has less open and park space than any council districts.

Yet the Wilshire Boulevard Temple and the Oriental Mission Church, rather than addressing these quality of life issues of the community, both demolished modestly priced apartment units and turned them into parking lots. What are these two non profit religious organizations doing to replace the much needed housing in Koreatown they have taken?

[jared]

Twice I have posted a comment that has not been printed.

Stop practicing censorship and print my comments.

Thank you.