Column: Who is buying those expensive houses in South L.A.? Is it really just white people?

Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, seen in August 2019, recently moved to the Hyde Park neighborhood of South L.A. with his wife and children. So we thought that, we don’t want their experience to always be ‘the only’ or ‘one of the few.’ We want them to see themselves reflected in others around them.” But, he admitted, with houses now going for $1 million, “even moving to Hyde Park for us was a bit of a stretch.” It’s a crazy thing to consider: Redlining and restrictive covenants created the Black neighborhoods of South L.A., and now most Black people can’t afford to buy — or even rent — there. And second, whether Black families who can afford to live anywhere choose to buy homes in South L.A. Home values are rising in South L.A. neighborhoods like View Park. “And that part was hard to reconcile, to be honest, because it’s nice to walk into a place where you don’t have to feel different.” Michael, who works in product management at Snapchat, agreed with his wife, adding that the mostly Black neighborhood feels like “a warm blanket,” the way Brooklyn used to feel. “No one is doing that.” That’s why, despite all the angst over gentrification, Lumpkin is confident that more Black families who can afford to buy homes in South L.A. will eventually do so.