Fairfax District, Los Angeles

Fairfax District
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Popular shops along Melrose Avenue
Map of the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, as delineated by the Los Angeles Times
Fairfax District Location within Western Los Angeles
Coordinates:

The Fairfax District is a 1.23-square-mile neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California.

Historically it has been a center of Los Angeles's Jewish community. It is known for its Farmer's Market, the CBS Television City broadcasting center, and places to eat. Fairfax has one public and three private high schools. It is the site of Los Angeles Fire Department station 61.

Geography

According to the Mapping L.A. project of the Los Angeles Times, the Fairfax District is flanked on the north by West Hollywood, on the northeast by Hollywood, on the east by Hancock Park, on the south by Mid-Wilshire, on the west by Beverly Grove and on the northwest by West Hollywood.

Street boundaries are: Willoughby Avenue or Romaine Street on the north, La Brea Avenue on the east, West Third Street on the south, and Fairfax Avenue on the west.

Nearby places

Relation of the Fairfax District to other places, not necessarily contiguous:

Population

The 2000 U.S. census counted 12,490 residents in the 1.23-square-mile Fairfax District—an average of 10,122 people per square mile, about the same population density as all of Los Angeles. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 13,360. The median age for residents was 33, a general average within Los Angeles. The percentage of residents aged 65 and older was among the county's highest.

The neighborhood was "not especially diverse" ethnically, with a high percentage of white people. The breakdown was whites, 84.7%; Latinos, 5.9%; Asians, 4.5%; blacks, 2.2%, and others, 2,8%. Ukraine (8.9%) and Mexico (7.8%) were the most common places of birth for the 23.2% of the residents who were born abroad, a low ratio compared to the rest of Los Angeles.

The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $65,938, average in comparison to the rest of Los Angeles. The average household size of two people was low for the city of Los Angeles. Renters occupied 71.5% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment owners 28.5%.

The percentages of never-married men (54.9%) and never-married women (45.5%) were among the county's highest.

Ethnic composition

• These were the ten cities or neighborhoods in Los Angeles County with the largest percentage of white residents, according to the 2000 United States Census:

1. Malibu, California, 88.8%
2. Hidden Hills, California, 88.7%
3. Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, 88.6%
4. Topanga, California, 87.6%
5. Beverly Crest, Los Angeles, 87.5%
6. Westlake Village, California, 85.5%
7. Manhattan Beach, California, 85.5%
8. Hollywood Hills West, Los Angeles, 84.9%
9. Hermosa Beach, California, 84.9%
10. Fairfax, Los Angeles, 84.7%

History

Canter's Deli is a notable restaurant

Historically, the Fairfax District has been a center of the city's Jewish community.

In 1935, there were four synagogues in the Fairfax District; by 1945, there were twelve. After World War II, more Jews began to populate the area. As more families moved in, religious schools and a Jewish Community Center sprang up. In 1974, Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice, a legal aid charity, opened its doors across from the Farmers Market. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Fairfax District was the center of Jewish life in Los Angeles. Recently arrived Jewish immigrants from Israel and Russia gave the area a cosmopolitan air. While this area of Los Angeles is still home to a Jewish community, the center of Jewish life has shifted southwest to Pico and Robertson Boulevards.

The Farmers Market at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street still retained an Old World atmosphere, with open-air vegetable stalls and cafes, and many Jewish residents of the area still frequent the market as part of their shopping or kibbitzing routine. The addition of The Grove, an outdoor mall built on the former parking lot for the market, has brought new crowds and new visitors, including many tourists and chain-store shoppers as well as severe parking problems to the Farmers Market daily.

The intersection of Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard is officially recognized as Raoul Wallenberg Square, in honor of the Swedish diplomat who saved thousand of Hungarian Jews from deportation to Nazi death camps.

CBS Television City

CBS Television City was built in 1952 on the former site of Gilmore Stadium at Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard. The facility has been used to tape several shows both for CBS and other entities, the most notable being The Price is Right, which has shot in Studio 33 (later renamed for the game show's longtime host, Bob Barker) continuously since 1972.

Education

Fifty-four percent of Fairfax residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, a high figure for both the city and the county.

The schools within Fairfax are as follows:

• Fairfax High School, LAUSD, 7850 Melrose Avenue. The school was founded in 1924. Most of the original campus facilities were demolished in 1966 because the original Spanish Colonial Revival main building did not meet earthquake safety standards. The historic Dewitt Swann Auditorium and iconic Rotunda, however, were spared, retrofitted and are in daily use. Greenway Court, built in 1939 as a social hall by the students at Fairfax as a class project, was also spared and was moved to Fairfax Avenue, where it was converted into a theater in 1999 by the Greenway Arts Alliance and renamed the Greenway Court Theater.
• The Otman Center, private secondary, 812 North Fairfax Avenue
• Yeshiva Ohr Eichonon Chabad, private secondary, 7215 Waring Avenue
• Westside Community Adult School, LAUSD, 7850 Melrose Avenue
• Whitman Continuation School, LAUSD, 7795 Rosewood Avenue
• Bais Yaakov School for Girls, private secondary, 7353 Beverly Boulevard
• Cheder of Los Angeles, private elementary, 801 North La Brea Avenue
• Melrose Avenue Elementary School, LAUSD, 731 North Detroit Street

Fire service

Los Angeles Fire Department operates Fire Station 61, serving the community.

Notable places

• Canter's restaurant. Los Angeles magazine named Canter's waffles the Best Waffle in Los Angeles. Esquire magazine called Canter's Monte Cristo sandwich one of the best sandwiches in America.
• CBS Television City, which was built on the site of a former football field and race track and which opened on November 16, 1952.
• Farmers Market, consisting of food stalls, sit-down eateries, prepared food vendors and produce markets.
• The Grove, a shopping center that features a large center park with an animated fountain.
• Pan-Pacific Park, built on the site of the former Pan-Pacific Auditorium.
• Since 1997, the Melrose Trading Post outdoor flea market has created opportunities for Fairfax High School and the surrounding neighborhood. Every Sunday 250+ local vendors, collectors, artisans, and artists gather in the parking lot on the corner of Melrose and Fairfax Avenues to celebrate the thriving community culture. Food vendors and live music round out this weekly local event hosted by the Greenway Arts Alliance. Money raised by this nonprofit organization from the low-cost patron admission and vendor booth fees fuel a thriving arts education program on the FHS campus called, Institute for the Arts at Greenway.

Notable residents

• Susan Rasky, journalist
• Phil Spector (born 1940), record producer, songwriter, convicted murderer
• Zev Yaroslavsky (born 1948), Los Angeles City Council and the county Board of Supervisors

See also

• List of districts and neighborhoods of Los Angeles

External links

• LA Times: Fairfax crime map and statistics