Mayor: Pico neighborhood is the ‘tale of two cities’
In a city overwhelmingly populated by wealthy white professionals, one neighborhood stands out as a pocket of poverty and crime.
Community activists are demanding that City Hall do more for the troubled Pico neighborhood, whose residents earn less and aren’t as educated than people in other areas of the city.
At $39,821, the median income for households in the eastside Santa Monica neighborhood is the lowest in the city and well behind the $118,553 that those north of Montana Avenue attract, according to a 2003 community profile of the city by the Rand Corp.
The Pico neighborhood has the highest concentration of young people and the highest percentage of families with children, according to the study, which is based largely on data from the 2000 Census.
Santa Monica at large is much different.
More than 50 percent of households in the city are individuals living by themselves and only 38 percent of households are inhabited by families, according to the study. The median income in Santa Monica is over $50,000 and more than 60 percent of residents 25 years old or older have college degrees.
In Pico, where hundreds of residents have little or no education, 15 percent of the neighborhood’s 9,193 households live below the poverty line.
“Poverty is crime,” said Oscar de la Torre, director of the Pico Youth and Family Center. “That we sustain this disparity in income in such a wealthy city is really the root cause of the problem. We need to find out where the biggest need is and focus our resources there.”
He has called for more funding to go to Pico neighborhood schools, more government jobs to be given to Pico residents and more family support and economic development programs.
“50-50 is not fairness,” de la Torre said. “There has to come a point where somebody says, ‘Hey, can I give a little bit to my brothers and sisters on the other side of the freeway?’”
“There has to come a point where somebody says, ‘Hey, can I give a little bit to my brothers and sisters on the other side of the freeway?’” — — OSCAR DE LA TORRE Activist
Samohi students whose parents take the bus to work suffer psychologically, de la Torre said, when they compare themselves with classmates who drive expensive cars to school from neighborhoods north of Montana, where private police cruise the streets and nearly every family has a computer.
City officials said they have long struggled with the disparity between the city’s different neighborhoods.
“This is the classic tale of two cities,” said Mayor Richard Bloom, adding that in a perfect world each of Santa Monica’s neighborhoods would have a mix of residents.
“This is the classic tale of two cities.” — — RICHARD BLOOM Santa Monica mayor
In reality, the poverty and the diversity is focused in the Pico neighborhood. Over 70 percent of Santa Monica’s 84,084 residents and nearly 90 percent of residents north of Montana are white. By comparison, Pico is dominated with blacks — 55 percent and Latinos — 38 percent. Sixteen percent of Pico residents are white.
Bloom said the city is working diligently to raise the standard for the Pico neighborhood with affordable housing programs, youth and education services and other social justice programs.
Pico has seen some change over the years. More young, middle-class families are moving there because home prices are cheaper than anywhere else in the city.
“You can’t waive a magic wand and make it happen,” he said. “It’s not for lack of trying. But economies do shift over time. Things do change.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.