Уоттс: Халық және ауданның тарихы мен құрамы

A total of 36,815 people lived in Watts's 2.12 square miles, according to the 2000 U. S. census—averaging 17,346 people per square mile, among the highest population densities in Los Angeles. Population was estimated at 41,028 in 2008. The median age was 21, making Watts the Los Angeles neighborhood with the youngest population. The percentages of residents aged birth to 18 were among the county's highest. Hispanics made up 61.6% of the population, blacks 37.1%, non Hispanic whites 0.5%, Asian 0.2%, and others 0.5%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 34% of the residents who were born abroad, an average percentage of foreign born when compared with the city or county as a whole. The percentages of never married women (45.3) and never married men (44.7) were among the county's highest. (Watts) serves the community. Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 16 (Watts) serves the community. Los Angeles Police Department operates the nearby Southeast Community Police Station.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the South Health Center in Watts. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operates the L. A. Watts Juvenile Parole Center. The United States Postal Service Augustus F. Hawkins Post Office is located at 10301 Compton Avenue. On January 24, 2000, the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate presented a bill to rename the Watts Finance Office as the Hawkins Post Office.

A Watts public library was established in 1913, with Maud Walton as the first librarian and Bessie Hunt as the second. In the same year the city received word that its application for construction of a new Carnegie Library had been approved. The cornerstone of the library was laid in January 1914. In 1914 the library moved into a newly built Carnegie library. Los Angeles annexed Watts in 1926, so the library became the Watts Branch of the Los Angeles library system. In 1957 voters approved a library branch bond, and a Watts Branch opened in 1960. In 1991 the Los Angeles City Council approved a measure, backed by the Friends of the Watts Branch Library, the 15th District Council Office, and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) of the City of Los Angeles, to build a new library as a part of the Watts Civic Center. $1.3 million from Proposition 1, the branch library facility bond issue of 1989, funded the construction of the new Watts library. On June 25, 1996, the city council voted to name the library after Alma Reaves Woods, a woman in the community who encouraged reading and library usage. James C. Moore, AIA & Associates designed the current Watts Library, which opened on June 29, 1996. Los Angeles Public Library operates the Alma Reaves Woods–Watts Branch.

On January 22, 2012, the popular cycling event called CicLAvia took place in south L. A. 's Central Alameda neighborhood to the Watts Towers. Volunteers were excited to hold an event close to the CicLAvia events in downtown L. A. The event was meant to encourage civic engagement. Throughout the group of volunteers the diversity was large. Cyclists took photos for a "crowd source" map made up of photos and recordings by the cyclists.

Watts Re:Imagined is a local urban planning initiative led by Grant Housing Economic Development Corps (Grant EDC, a non profit division of the community based Grant AME church) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Urban Solutions program. Its mission is to help the community of Watts realize their full potential by promoting economic opportunity, social equity, public health, and an improved quality of life, all while working with community leaders to preserve the identity of the area. It is trying to achieve this goal by implementing different existing plans proposed for the area. The Watts Re:Imagined initiative was formed in response to the dissolution of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles.

The Watts station was a train station built in 1904. It is a National Historic Landmark. It has been known as one of the few structures that were untouched by a huge fire along 103rd Street stores during the 1965 Watts riots. When it was found intact, it was a symbol of hope and faith for the Watts community. Being one of the most original buildings that was first constructed in Watts, it was a popular stop for the Pacific Electric Railway's "Red Car" that ran through Los Angeles, CA, to Long Beach, CA, for 50 years. It was also admitted to the NRHP (National Register of Historic Places) four months after the riots.

The Watts Christmas parade was created in 1964 by Edna Aliewine before the Watts riots. She put together a group of local volunteers to fundraise and create the parade. Ms. Aliewine started a drill team with neighborhood girls which marched in homemade Santa hats. She died at the age of 90 in her home in Watts on July 5, 2011.

The L. A. Watts Summer Games started in 1968 and were held at Locke High School. The games are a three day athletic tournament that brings together more than 5,000 students from 200 California schools. Almost 200,000 youth have competed in the games over the past 30 years. The Watts Summer Games have a scholarship program for students who are dedicated to the community and have awarded more than $300,000 since their inception in 1992.

Epifani Dance Company was founded by Lakesha Buchanon in Watts in 2002. They compete in year round SHARP International competitions, where they have won several first place trophies.

Located on 107th Street, the Watts Village Theater Company is a multicultural urban company whose mission is to "inspire its community with an appreciation of all cultures." The company was started in 1996 and has been involved in helping the community with educational workshops ever since. The members strive to make a more understanding Watts whose citizens can harmoniously live together in a diverse community.

LA Youth was founded by Donna Myrow in 1988. The first edition of the publication sold 2,500 copies. Its current circulation is 120,000. LA Youth reaches approximately half a million readers. L. A. Watts Times Weekender Newspaper is an African American newspaper in both print form and online. It was started in 1965 with the motto: "The Voice of Our Community Speaking for Itself." In the summer of 2010 the Bakewell family was in negotiation to purchase the LA Watts Times. Danny Bakewell said, "I am proud and honored that Melanie chose me and my family to continue the great legacy of the Watts Times, its founders and her parents,".

The television series Sanford and Son was set in Watts, and the neighborhood was mentioned prominently by the characters. Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern crash a police helicopter into a construction site in Watts in the 1983 movie Blue Thunder. The television series Two and a Half Men had an episode called "Weekend in Bangkok with Two Olympic Gymnasts", which makes reference to Watts in a brief scene. The show also features a restaurant called “Clucky's” located in Watts in the same episode. A plot in the film The Big Lebowski involves the embezzlement of a million dollars from a foundation that ensures a college education for youngsters from Watts, the so called Little Lebowski Urban Achievers. The film Menace II Society was filmed at the Jordan Downs public housing project in Watts. Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep was filmed in and is set in Watts in the early 1970s. Wassup Rockers was filmed in Watts, and parts were filmed at Locke High School and Gompers Middle School. Portions of the Oscar award winning movie Training Day were filmed in and around the Imperial Courts public housing project in Watts. The television series What's Happening!! and its sequel What's Happening Now!! was set in Watts, where the characters lived. The reality television series Pit Boss filmed a Season 1 episode in which Shorty Rossi returns to his community to do a fundraiser for the kids of the Nickerson Gardens public housing project in Watts. The episode of Quantum Leap "Black on White on Fire" was set in Watts during the riots in 1965. Watts tower is a notable location in the movie Ricochet (1991) with Denzel Washington and John Lithgow.

Imperial Courts which is located in Watts, appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas where it is parodied as Ganton Courts. The neighborhood of Rancho also resembles Watts, as it appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto V.

Watts was situated at a point on a rail line that ran south from Los Angeles (eight miles to the north) to Long Beach and, according to real estate advertisements and publicity releases, was about 6 1/2 minutes from the terminal at Sixth and Main Streets. In 1910 it was a transfer point for the Santa Ana, Long Beach and San Pedro lines of the Pacific Electric system. The Watts Station, which is now a National Historic Landmark, included Wells Fargo Express and Western Union telegraph facilities. Pioneer settler A. E. Ruoff recalled that the electric line was installed about 1902. The point known as Latin Station, just a mile north of Watts station, was called North Watts, and Abila station, 1.5 miles south of Watts, was South Watts
In February 1909 the railroad changed its schedule so that Watts travelers would have to take local trains rather than expresses, thereby increasing the length of the ride to Los Angeles from 15 minutes to one hour. In 1912 Watts passengers could get a car into Los Angeles about every three minutes, and those returning from the city "have the choice of riding five different lines of cars, not to mention the Watts locals, namely the Long Beach, Santa Ana, San Pedro, Redondo and Newport lines." In 1925, there were 800 freight and passenger trains stopping in Watts, and "a great number of wide boulevards" passed through the city.