District Profile

The Thirteenth District comprises eighteen neighborhoods known in Los Angeles and throughout the world for their dynamism, diversity, and creativity. Nestled between the skyscrapers of Downtown Los Angeles and the glitter of Hollywood, it is the most densely-populated council district in the city. The Thirteenth District has it all: a river and a lake, hills and flats, sound stages and hospitals, subway stops, freeways and pedestrian commerical districts, world-class museums and community art galleries, some of the most famous architectural homes ever built and national award-winning affordable housing.

GEOGRAPHY

The Thirteenth District covers exactly 13.13 sq. miles, the geographically smallest, most densely-populated council district in the City of Los Angeles. The stretches from its western corner at Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea to Elysian Park and Division Street in Glassell Park (click here for a map) on its easternmost boundary. It includes part or all of the neighborhoods of Hollywood, East Hollywood, Thai Town, Little Armenia, Los Feliz, Virgil Village, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Temple-Beverly, Koreatown, Historic Filipinotown, Westlake, Wilshire Center, Melrose Hill, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Atwater Village, and Glassell Park (see if you are a resident of the 13th District).

Notable geographic features of District 13 include the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Echo Park Lake, Elysian Park, the Silver Lake Reservoir, Barnsdall Art Park (and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House), Angelus Temple, Sunset Junction, and Los Angeles City College (the former campus of UCLA). The district includes the most subway stops of any district in the city, the largest natural-bottomed (unpaved) stretch of the Los Angeles River, and the city’s steepest street (Fargo St. in Echo Park).

The district is defined by its geographic diversity: hills and flats, rivers and lakes, high-rise buildings and quiet single-family homes, mixed-use developments and horse stables. The 13th has it all!

DEMOGRAPHICS

With more than 100 languages spoken in its streets, the 13th District is one of the most incredible mixes of people ever assembled in one place. According to the US Census Bureau, more than a quarter-million people reside in the district. Approximately 60% of the residents are foreign-born, and ethnic breakdown of the district is 62% Latino, 16% Anglo, 16% Asian-American, 3% African-American, and 3% American Indian/Mixed Race/Other. 83% of the residents of the district are renters and the median household income is $24,074 with 40% children living in poverty. 16% of the residents of the 13th District have no education beyond the 6th Grade, 46% have no high school diploma, and 17% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. The average household size is 2.9 persons.

More than 100 languages are spoken in the district with significant populations of Mexican, Central American, Filipino, Armenian, Korean, Thai, Cambodian, African, and Chinese immigrants. 30% of the population in the district is under 20 years old, while 11% is over 60 years old.

ECONOMY

The largest industries in the district are entertainment/technology, healthcare, education, and tourism, each a critical industry to the overall health of the Los Angeles economy. The neighborhoods of the district each have vibrant business districts with neighborhood-focused shopping, restaurants, and chambers of commerce.

The ten largest employers in the district are (in order):

• Paramount Pictures Corporation 5,000
• Kaiser Permanente Hospital 5,000
• Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles 3,600
• Sunset Gower Studios 2,500
• Los Angeles City College 2,271
• St. Vincent’s Medical Center 1,800
• Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center 1,550
• City of Angels Medical Center 900
• Nielsen Entertainment 700
• Deluxe Laboratories, Inc. 600

In the 13th District, you can find the first hospital in Los Angeles, the location of the first oil discovered in the region, and the location of the world’s first full-length motion picture ever shot!