Compared with the Westside, for example, that area has far fewer restaurants -- about 900 versus 2,200, according to The Times' analysis. And about 45% of the restaurants in South Los Angeles are fast-food chains or restaurants with minimal seating, compared with 16% on the Westside.
The analysis also highlights underlying issues that have plagued other lower-income urban areas around the country. Such concentrations of fast food have helped cultivate a reliance on their price and convenience, said Gwendolyn Flynn, policy director for the Community Health Councils, a Los Angeles health policy advocacy organization.
Catalina Ayala, 23, who grew up in South Los Angeles, lives three blocks from a McDonald's and a slew of other fast-food restaurants, and eats fast food about four times a week.
"By the time I go home, it's already too late to cook food," said Ayala, who works at LAX.
On a recent afternoon, Ayala and her husband were at a McDonald's. Their 3-year-old son played in the indoor playground, which for some families serves as their children's park.
But her husband, a 23-year-old construction worker in South L.A., said he avoids fast food.
"It's not for me," he said. "Later on sometimes, your son is too fat, he eats too much."
That was one reason Terrah Cephas, 32, left South L.A. for the Valley about two years ago.
"It's fast food on every corner, but it's not enough wholesome restaurants," she said. "You literally have to be willing to drive to Long Beach or Santa Monica, or Inglewood."
That's if you have a car.
Many South L.A. residents are "almost a captive audience for these restaurants, unfortunately," Flynn said.
In South Los Angeles, 28% of people live in poverty, compared with 16.2% of the county, according to county figures.
South L.A. has lots of fast-food restaurants because these restaurants do well in areas where people might not want to spend $15 on lunch, said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of Foodservice Strategies at WD Partners, a restaurant consulting firm that works with Red Lobster, Jamba Juice and Fatburger, among others.
But there also may be missed opportunities: According to a 2005 market study contracted by the city, South L.A. loses more than $400 million annually in general merchandise, grocery and restaurant sales to outside areas.
"The community has suffered for decades by an assumption that attracting business of any type is good, and it's not true," Perry said.
