North Long Beach (or "the Northside") is a predominately working class area of Long Beach, California. The neighborhood is bounded to the west, north and east by the Long Beach city limits (the Rancho Dominguez unincorporated county area and the cities of Compton, Paramount, Bellflower and Lakewood), and to the south approximately by Del Amo Blvd. The north boundary with Paramount is only a few blocks north of the 91 - Artesia Freeway. The neighborhood more or less coincides with the city's 9th Council district.
North Long Beach is mostly residential. There is a business and retail district centered at the 5600 block of Atlantic Ave., as well as retail activity along most major streets in the area, including Artesia Blvd., Long Beach Blvd., and Cherry Ave. There are some industrial businesses, mostly between Cherry Ave. and Paramount Blvd. serviced by the Union Pacific Railroad.
The northern end of the district is home to Houghton Park and Jordan High School, while the southern end includes the Carmelitos housing project and its adjacent small shopping center. On its west side, at approximately Market St. and Long Beach Blvd., is the site of the original Long Beach civic center dating back to the city's Rancho days.
The area prior to the 1980's used to be predominately white, but now is mostly Black and Latino. Blacks have been moving to this area recently; making it the area with the largest Black population in Long Beach; surpassing the traditional Black area of East-Side or Central Long Beach. The area has seen blacks moving there from Neighboring Compton, and others from West and East Long Beach. The city of Bellflower which borders North Long Beach as well as the Compton/Paramount area have also seen in an increase in Black and Latino residents.
Some of the poorest areas of the city are on the Northside. For example Carmelitos Housing Projects (Median household income $11,082, Median family income 12,380, Racial Make Up: 58.7 percent Black, 30 percent Hispanic, 6.8 percent White, and 4 percent Asian). There is also a large mile and a half stretch of section 8 apartments on Paramount Blvd. This area is also about 60 percent Black and has similar median incomes.
The area in the western portion of the Northside which borders Compton was once nearly all Black. Now it is more than half Hispanic. This, as in the rest of the city has caused confrontation between Black, Asian, and Hispanic gangs on the north-side. Dominant gangs in this area are North Side Longo 13(Latino), Four Corner Block Crips, Mack Mafia, Asian Boy Gang, and other gangs.
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