As the gateway to Los Angeles, Century Boulevard should be a place that reflects the best the city has to offer. Instead it is home to low-wage jobs, strip clubs, high crime rates and adjacent communities mired in poverty.
Century Boulevard is also an area with enormous potential. Its hotels have among the highest occupancy rates and the largest concentration of rooms in Los Angeles County. Yet the city’s inattention to the area and poor working conditions in the hotels combine to create a vicious cycle of low wages, poverty and disinvestment. These conditions neglect the needs of tens of thousands of Angelenos, deprive the city of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue and send the wrong message to visitors about Los Angeles.
The Coalition for a New Century is an alliance of religious organizations and clergy, community-based groups, educators, workers and residents who believe that the long-neglected Century Corridor has tremendous potential. The coalition is calling on industry and city leaders to support a plan to invest in the tourism industry, its workforce and the surrounding communities.