For years Compton has struggled against a lousy reputation. Its name has been invoked by rappers as a euphemism for violence, rebellion and poverty. "It's the home of the jackers and the crack. (Compton!) Yeah, that's the name of my hometown," sang the rapper The Game.
But these days, Compton is starting to look almost suburban.
Since last year, Staples, Target, Best Buy and Starbucks, among other national retail chains, have opened stores in the city. Although they have yet to generate more than a few thousand dollars in sales tax, the stores mean more than revenue or convenience to many city residents.
"I don't like the idea of having to go outside of this community to spend my money," said Kevin Love, 48, as he passed a recent lunch hour shopping at Best Buy at the Gateway Towne Center, which opened late last year. Attracting retailers has been a tough battle for Compton, since the merchants required constant reassurance of safety and success from city leaders -- and one of the most advanced retail surveillance systems in the country.
Not only does the Gateway Towne Center, which opened in October, have the type of security cameras found at any shopping center, but the L.A. County Sheriff's Department installed its own video cameras, license-plate scanning cameras and cameras that respond to the sound of gunshots.
Live feeds from the cameras are monitored on big-screen televisions in a small room inside the sheriff's Compton station on Willowbrook Avenue. Four deputies patrol the center full time, and a sheriff's substation is set to open next to Daniel's Jewelers.
"My No. 1 priority is security," Mayor Eric Perrodin said. "I'm not going to let anyone disrupt the opportunities we've been given when these retailers came to Compton."
Last month, further proof of the city's budding revival came in the form of a visit by Prince Andrew, the stately gray-haired Duke of York, who attended the opening of a British-owned grocery store.
"Finally, we are taking the city back into our hands," said Kofi Sefa-Boakye, Compton's community redevelopment director.
Erma Clemons, 73, echoes that sentiment. She has lived in Compton nearly five decades and has had to plan her shopping trips for years, either stopping in Gardena or Lynwood just to buy fresh produce or basic products such as paper towels and soap.
Clemons is a proud caretaker of her city. She calls local television stations to complain when Compton is portrayed in a bad light and complains to City Hall when residents litter. For her, the new stores are an affirmation.
"Finally," she said, "the powers-that-be understand that our money is green like everybody else's."
Decades ago, Long Beach Boulevard was Compton's economic heart. So many car dealerships lined the wide street that it was known as Chrome Row. But by the late 1960s, Chrome Row was dying, with owners complaining of thefts and violence.
In the late 1970s, as a rash of businesses abandoned the city, officials invested millions in redevelopment funds to build the Alameda Auto Plaza. Even then, the city was billing itself as a "new Compton," a community on the economic upswing.
But compared with other municipalities, Compton officials say, the city was hit especially hard by Proposition 13, which stripped the city's tax base. The community had come to rely so much on property taxes after the decline of Chrome Row and the departure of other businesses.
And the auto plaza, mired in allegations of inept leadership and faced with competition in nearby cities, never lived up to expectations. Most dealerships failed soon after opening.
Then, when the city tried to shift its attention to attracting retail, it failed.
"People don't want to invest in areas that are unstable, that are in crisis," Sefa-Boakye said.
In the late 1980s, homicides in Compton averaged nearly 80 a year. In 1994, there were 90, according to the Sheriff's Department.
In 2000, the city disbanded its Police Department to cut costs and contracted with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 70 deputies, after being told it needed at least 100.
In 2001, Perrodin was elected mayor amid allegations of voter fraud by incumbent Omar Bradley. Bradley, who called himself the "gangster mayor," was convicted of felony corruption charges in 2004, along with a former city councilman and former city manager.
Recently, things have calmed a bit. Homicides have dropped -- the yearly average since 2000 has been about 45 -- though Compton still has one of the highest crime rates in the nation. At the same time, developers have shown renewed interest in transit-oriented development, making Compton, which is bisected by the Metro Blue Line, more attractive, officials say.
