West Adams

West Adams is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. It is located very close to Downtown and USC. There are three communities within West Adams that are designated as historical landmark areas. There are so many beautiful homes in West Adams, it's ridiculous. Large, sprawling mansions can be found all over the place.
When the freeways started opening up in the city, many of the upper-class white population that inhabited West Adams started to move west and the upper-middle African American population moved in. Because there were bans against where black people could live until the middle of the 19th century, the area was only open to the super rich of the African American community. But, the neighborhood started to deteriorate and it was pretty scary for a long time.
Because Downtown has had a major renaissance in the last 10 years, West Adams is starting to come back to its former glory. A lot of professionals whom work downtown and at USC have begun to move back into the area. And, the houses are being restored to the grand pieces of architecture that they once were.
There isn't a lot to do, socially, however, but it's slowly starting to come around. Restaurants and bars have to be found downtown, and there are still a lot of sections of this neighborhood that are pretty sketchy.
All in all, it's still really, really up-and-coming (read: it's still not exactly safe or fun). But, I think within the next 10 years, it's going to be a really cool neighborhood. The houses are just too beautiful for neighborhood to stay crappy.