Country Club Park, Los Angeles, California

Country Club Park is a district in west-central Los Angeles, California.

Geography and Transportation

The district is bordered by Carthay on the west, the Miracle Mile on the north, Koreatown and Harvard Heights on the east, and Jefferson Park on the south. Country Club Park's boundaries are the Santa Monica Freeway on the south, Arlington Avenue/Wilton Place (north of Pico Boulevard) and Western Avenue (south of Pico) on the east, Wilshire Boulevard on the north, and La Brea Avenue on the west. Principal thoroughfares include Olympic, Pico, Venice, San Vicente, and Crenshaw Boulevards and Western, La Brea, and Arlington Avenues. Major subdistricts include Lafayette Square, Arlington Heights, Wilshire Park, and Mid-City.

The Neighborhood

Country Club Park is a generally upscale district of Art Deco bungalows and apartment buildings. It was developed from the 1910s onward as a whites-only neighborhood, but now has significant populations of blacks (particularly in Lafayette Square), Asians (near Koreatown), and Latinos (throughout the district but especially in Mid-City), making it one of the city's most diverse areas. Some of the district's more affluent neighborhoods are quasi-gated communities, with access from the major thoroughfares barred by wrought iron fences. In general, Country Club Park serves as a buffer or transition zone between the wealthier neighborhoods to the north and west and the poorer areas of South Central Los Angeles. In 2004, Los Angeles magazine ranked Lafayette Square as one of its "Ten Most Overlooked Neighborhoods in Los Angeles," bringing greater attention to a part of the city rarely visited by Westsiders and suburbanites.

Notable Attractions

The sprawling headquarters complex of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles is located on Crenshaw Boulevard.