Idlewood is a neighborhood in the city of Los Santos, California.
History[]
Idlewood was first developed during the early 1920s as a small railroad stop near the Gant Railway Station. It did not fully develop until after World War II, when high demand for suburban housing fueled the growth of the Los Santos area.
Idlewood was designated as part of the city of Los Santos in 1948. Unlike neighboring Ganton; Idlewood did not partake in the use of racially exclusive deeds and allowed African Americans and Hispanics to inhabit the neighborhood. For this reason, Idlewood began as a poorer area.
However, during the 1960s, ethnic tensions in the area caused many middle class whites to move from Ganton to Idlewood among other neighborhoods in the city of Los Santos. Blacks and Hispanics living in Idlewood migrated to Ganton, which repealed it's racially exclusive deeds in 1954.
Idlewood remained a desirable middle class neighborhood throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Middle class African Americans and Hispanics began to move back into the neighborhood in small numbers, but whites remained predominate. The opening of Alhambra Concert Hall in 1979 and establishment of new businesses and affordable apartments in the early 1980s was a driving force in the development of the neighborhood.
However, violent activities in neighboring Ganton spilled into Idlewood during the 1992 Los Santos Riots. Said violence caused a large amount of middle class families to leave the neighborhood, although many remained. Crime rates rose significantly in the neighborhood during this time period; however not to volatile levels such as those observed in Ganton and El Corona.
Demographics[]
Median income in Idlewood in 1999 was $35,916 for households.