West Athens Apartments for Rent

West Athens lies in the 90047 zip code, in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is loosely bounded by 87th Street to the north, Vermont Avenue to the east, El Segundo Boulevard to the south, and parts of Western Avenue and Van Ness Avenue to the west. It is an area of modest homes, with industrial buildings and eclectic businesses along the main corridors.

The Chester Washington public golf course and community facilities lies to the West. Surrounding neighborhoods include Compton to the southeast, Inglewood to the northwest, and Gardena to the West.

Jessie Owens Park is a major community park, with a heated indoor swimming pool, softball and basketball facilities, and a nine-hole golf course.

Shopping in West Athens includes the Slauson Super Mall, Ralph’s Groceries, and Superior Warehouse Grocers.

Los Angeles Southwest Community College is in the West Athens neighborhood. The school has a good reputation for sending transfer students to universities across the nation, and renovations are expected to result in a “green” campus by 2012.

South Los Angeles includes some of the oldest parts of the city, many of which were part of the city’s segregated past. West Athens itself began as a vibrant, middle class African American community. Recent revitalization efforts are helping to upgrade some of the modest homes and bungalows, many of which are of solid southwestern or craftsmen design.