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Inglewood Has Experienced Dramatic Change. The Super Bowl Is Proof of That.
New York Times ^
| Feb 13
| By Tim Arango
Posted on 02/13/2022 10:48:24 AM PST by RandFan
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — First, the Lakers and the Kings abandoned Inglewood for a shiny new arena in downtown Los Angeles in 1999. Several years later, the horse racing track shut down. In between, there was the financial crisis, which sent home values plummeting. Things got so bad that the state took over the local school district.
“The only thing that was left, effectively, was a Sizzler and a big doughnut,” said James T. Butts Jr., the mayor of Inglewood, referring to the gigantic steel sculpture that sits atop Randy’s Donuts near the airport, long a strange welcome sign for visitors to Southern California.
Now when you fly into Los Angeles, the first sight to grab your eye is the gleaming, futuristic football cathedral called SoFi Stadium that sits on land left vacant by the horse track. It is one of the priciest sports arenas ever built at more than $5 billion, and lured professional football back to Los Angeles with the Rams and Chargers relocating from St. Louis and San Diego. It opened in the pandemic year of 2020, hosting games but not fans. On Sunday, it will be crammed for the Super Bowl, and Inglewood will command the nation’s attention. The fact that the hometown Rams are in the game makes it even sweeter.
For Inglewood, one of Los Angeles’s last communities with a substantial Black population, the Super Bowl is perhaps the fullest expression of a transformation that has been underway for years. Over the last decade the economy improved and crime fell, making Inglewood attractive to outside development. The old Forum was reopened for concerts, and people came. A new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s youth orchestra opened in a building that was once a Burger King....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California; US: New York
KEYWORDS: california; chat; inglewood; localnews; losangeles; mediawingofthednc; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills
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To: cuban leaf
Today. I just looked it up:
Super Bowl LVI will be played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, February 13, 2022.
To: RandFan
We that lived west of there called it Inglewatts.
Not a place to be after dark. Going to pick up my girlfriend at Pepperdine was sketchy in 1965. Groups of negros on many intersection corners, giving the white boy stink eye.
42
posted on
02/13/2022 12:19:36 PM PST
by
doorgunner69
(Let's go Brandon)
To: DoughtyOne
“There seemed to be slums right up to the stadium doorstep.”
L.A. coliseum, same same.
43
posted on
02/13/2022 12:22:16 PM PST
by
doorgunner69
(Let's go Brandon)
To: RandFan
“The only thing that was left, effectively, was a Sizzler and a big doughnut,”
mmm... big doughnut.
44
posted on
02/13/2022 12:24:40 PM PST
by
Dr. Sivana
(“...life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook."-B.LeMaire)
To: qaz123
I’d be curious to know if it was because the place was such a disaster and the land was very cheap.
I am not a Californian, but my understanding is that highway access was good.
45
posted on
02/13/2022 12:27:30 PM PST
by
Dr. Sivana
(“...life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook."-B.LeMaire)
To: DoughtyOne
I remember going to a Dallas Cowboys game in 1966.
—
Was that when they played in the Cotton Bowl/Fair Park Stadium?
46
posted on
02/13/2022 12:27:45 PM PST
by
Autonomous User
(During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.)
To: Luke21
"It’s still a damned slum."
That's what I'm curious about.
This article reads like a classic liberal narrative. That millions of dollars invested in a crime-ridden minority community will turn everything around.
To: griswold3
I guarantee the team owners did not pay for the stadium.
Yeah, he did. Why do you think L.A. went for 20 years with NO team? Because the city and state didn't feel like throwing money at such a development. Kroenke has the money, and figured out how to use it to make more. So now he collects rent from the Chargers, the gate from the Rams, all sorts of money from conventions and special events because he built a destination facility. The city might have done some things for road access, but Kroenke owns the stadium and the land himself. He is a developer to develop his fortune, and was help along by marrying a Walmart heiress, so he he naturally knew where Wal-Marts were going up before anyone else and built around them.
48
posted on
02/13/2022 12:31:58 PM PST
by
Dr. Sivana
(“...life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook."-B.LeMaire)
To: RandFan
My grandparents are buried in Inglewood Cemetery, but I don’t suppose they’ll notice the upgraded neighborhood.
49
posted on
02/13/2022 12:41:01 PM PST
by
Hebrews 11:6
(Watch "THE CHOSEN," about Jesus & the disciples He chose: https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen)
To: qaz123
yeah, butt, butt, butt....its racism to build that billion dollar stadium and the poor slaves that live in the area can't afford to even go to a game.....
half the seats should be free to the local residents, just because...../s/
50
posted on
02/13/2022 12:43:18 PM PST
by
cherry
(;)
To: doorgunner69
Agreed...
I think it’s that way everywhere.
Dodger Stadium replaced a big shanty town in it’s inception.
They use these stadiums as a way to enact urban renewal.
51
posted on
02/13/2022 12:47:56 PM PST
by
DoughtyOne
(I pledge allegiance to the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
To: doorgunner69
The only reason this stadium didn’t actually qualify under
the urban renewal concept, is that the land was bare and
no homes had to be removed.
Hollywood Park race track closed down and left a lot of
vacant property on the site.
52
posted on
02/13/2022 12:49:44 PM PST
by
DoughtyOne
(I pledge allegiance to the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
To: Autonomous User
I believe so. It has been a long time, but I’m almost
positive that it was.
53
posted on
02/13/2022 12:50:28 PM PST
by
DoughtyOne
(I pledge allegiance to the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
To: Dr. Sivana
According to our Transportation Secretary, highways are waay-cist.
54
posted on
02/13/2022 12:53:39 PM PST
by
qaz123
To: SoCal Pubbie
55
posted on
02/13/2022 12:55:22 PM PST
by
qaz123
To: DoughtyOne
They use these stadiums as a way to enact urban renewal.Didn't work out for the Braves at Turner Field in downtown Atlanta so they ended up moving to the suburbs in Cobb County.
To: cuban leaf
oh man..you are missing out...so far, the pre game has been a non stop 4 hour lecture on systemic racism against no black coaches...
57
posted on
02/13/2022 1:00:44 PM PST
by
basalt
(exas)
To: DoughtyOne
Stadiums attracted low life, hustlers, thieves, prostitutes, you name it...It’s why the areas around stadiums generally always go to hell or simply become worse.
58
posted on
02/13/2022 1:00:46 PM PST
by
dragnet2
(Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
To: MinorityRepublican
59
posted on
02/13/2022 1:01:42 PM PST
by
DoughtyOne
(I pledge allegiance to the flag of the U S of A, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands.)
To: basalt
so far, the pre game has been a non stop 4 hour lecture on systemic racism against no black coaches Hope the fans all wear their NFL cuck hats!
60
posted on
02/13/2022 1:02:18 PM PST
by
dragnet2
(Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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