Where the working man is welcomed: Working-class suburbs in Los Angeles, 1900-1940

In Los Angeles, from 1900 to 1940, suburbs for the working class offered residents the opportunity to maximize the productive uses of their property in their quest for economic security and insulation from an unpredictable marketplace; they fulfilled the class-based needs of their residents. These were rough-hewn communities, where residents grew produce and livestock in backyards, built their own homes, and paid low taxes. The nature and function of these suburbs defy traditional scholarly portrayals of suburbia as the pastoral, exclusive haven of the white middle class. Both workers and people of color made homes in the working-class suburbs of Los Angeles. Such communities were surprisingly prevalent in Los Angeles before World War II. By 1940, 72 percent of all incorporated suburbs were predominantly working class. Four categories of these communities existed: industrial suburbs, labor camp suburbs, domestic service suburbs, and farm-fringe streetcar suburbs. Most people of color also inhabited working-class suburbs. Many of these communities were "unplanned," allowing residents to rely on sweat equity as a means of entering the ranks of suburban home ownership. These communities illustrate the ways that working people shaped the residential landscape of early Los Angeles.