Unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, US
This article is about the unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California. For the community in San Mateo County, California, see Ladera, California. For the community in Orange County, California, see Ladera Ranch, California. For the community in the City of Los Angeles, see Ladera, Los Angeles.
Ladera Heights originated in the late 1940s with the development of "Old Ladera". In the 1960s, custom homes were built in "New Ladera". Prominent architect builders included Valentine and Gallant. Robert Earl, who designed many of the Valentine homes, went on to build large multimillion-dollar estates throughout Southern California and in other countries. Neighboring Fox Hills contained a golf course with rolling hills that backed up to Wooster Avenue. Valentine built Robert Earl designed homes on Wooster overlooking the Fox Hills golf course.
Ladera Heights is portioned into three sections, known as "Upper Ladera," "Lower Ladera" and "Old Ladera". Upper Ladera includes all houses north of Slauson in between La Cienega Boulevard and Shenandoah Avenue, while Lower Ladera (the larger of the two) consists of all houses south of Slauson in between Wooster and La Cienega. Old Ladera is the small area just east of La Cienega and south of Slauson. The Ladera Center, located in Lower Ladera just west of La Cienega Boulevard, hosts a number of local franchise stores and eateries.
According to a 2014 ranking, Ladera Heights ranks #3 among the top 10 richest majority-Black communities in the US, just under View Park-Windsor Hills, CA, and the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, and just above Mitchellville, Maryland. Per the study, Ladera Heights has an average family income of $132,824.[13]
Ladera Heights CDP, California – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Panoramic view of Slauson Avenue in Ladera Heights from Shenandoah
The 2010 US Census[15] reported that Ladera Heights had a population of 6,498. The population density was 2,191.1 inhabitants per square mile (846.0/km2). The racial makeup of Ladera Heights was 4,786 (73.7%) African American, 979 (15.1%) White (13.3% Non-Hispanic White),[16] 20 (0.3%) Native American, 231 (3.6%) Asian, 2 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 134 (2.1%) from other races, and 346 (5.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 355 people (5.5%).
The census reported that 6,486 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 8 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 4 (0.1%) were institutionalized.
There were 2,751 households, 702 (25.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,240 (45.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 462 (16.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 113 (4.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 93 (3.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 20 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 778 households (28.3%) were one person and 351 (12.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.36. There were 1,815 families (66.0% of households); the average family size was 2.88.
The age distribution was 1,122 people (17.3%) under the age of 18, 401 people (6.2%) aged 18 to 24, 1,264 people (19.5%) aged 25 to 44, 2,183 people (33.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,528 people (23.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 49.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.1 males.
There were 2,867 housing units at an average density of 966.7 per square mile, of the occupied units 2,027 (73.7%) were owner-occupied and 724 (26.3%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.7%. 4,891 people (75.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,595 people (24.5%) lived in rental housing units.
During 2009–2013, Ladera Heights had a median household income of $99,563, with 4.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[16]
2000 Census
At the 2000 census there were 6,568 people, 2,691 households, and 1,883 families residing in the census-designated place (CDP). The population density was 2,230.6 inhabitants per square mile (861.2/km2). There were 2,755 housing units at an average density of 935.7 per square mile (361.3/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 70.8% African American, 7.0% White, 2.9% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4%.[17]English and German were the most common ancestries. Canada and Trinidad were the most common foreign places of birth.[18]
Of the 2,691 households 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 24.8% of households were one person and 9.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.89.
The age distribution was 20.7% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.7 males.
The median household income was $90,233 and the median family income was $103,174. Males had a median income of $64,643 versus $52,750 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $47,798. About 1.1% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Primary and secondary schools
Most of Ladera Heights is served by the Inglewood Unified School District.[19] The schools serving Ladera Heights are in the Inglewood city limits. As of 2006 fewer than 400 Ladera Heights residents attended Inglewood USD schools.[20] La Tijera School (K-8) and Parent School (K-8) serve Ladera Heights.[21] La Tijera and Parent feed into Inglewood High School.[22][23]
Ladera Park is adjacent to the View Park-Windsor Hills and the City of Inglewood.[31][32] The park has an outdoor amphitheatre, a baseball–softball diamond field, a basketball court, children's play areas, a community recreation center, water fountains, picnic areas with barbecue grills and tennis courts.[32]
Retail commerce
Ladera Heights Shopping Center (at the northwest side of the junction of La Tijera, La Cienega, and Centinela boulevards) hosted a Henshey's Department Store from 1966 to 1990[33] and what was popularly known as Magic Johnson Starbucks, a Starbucks owned by Magic Johnson from 1998 to 2018.[7]
^"School Accountability Report Card 2004-2005"(PDF). Inglewood Unified School District. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 13, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2010. Students enter Inglewood High School from four feeder schools. The highest percentage of ninth grade students formerly attended Crozier Middle School, one of the District's two middle schools. Other students attended the District's K-8 schools: La Tijera, Warren Lane, and Parent.
^"Wiseburn School District". Wiseburn School District. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved April 4, 2014. Also serving the children of employees from the surrounding aerospace, technology, travel, and entertainment industries, as well as families living in the Westchester, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Mar Vista, and Ladera Heights area on an interdistrict permit transfer.
