Los Angeles City Council District 13 is one of the 15 districts of the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...

, in

Central Los Angeles __NOTOC__ Central Los Angeles is the historic urban region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Geography The City of Los Angeles The Los Angeles Department of City Planning divides the city into Area Planning Commission (APC) areas, each fur ...

Hugo Soto-Martinez Hugo Soto-Martinez is an American labor organizer and politician, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, Soto-Mar ...

is the current council member.

Geography

Present district

The district flanks the 101 freeway as it passes through part of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and north to Hollywood Boulevard in

East Hollywood East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

. The district's southern boundary includes the neighborhoods of

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

, Echo Park, and Westlake; and north through Echo Park and western Elysian Park in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains; to

Atwater Village Atwater Village is a neighborhood in the 13th district of Los Angeles, California. Much of Atwater Village lies in the fertile Los Angeles River flood plain. Located in the northeast region of the city, Atwater borders Griffith Park and Silver L ...

, Elysian Valley, and a section of the Los Angeles River within its northeastern borders. At , it is geographically the smallest council district in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It is also the most densely populated council district. For more details, see the officia
City of Los Angeles map of District 13

Historic locations

The 13th District was mapped at its origin in 1925 in the eastern part of the city, but over the years it has been shifted west in keeping with the city's population changes. A new

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

effective in 1925 replaced the former " at large" voting system for a nine-member council with a district system with a 15-member council. Each district was to be approximately equal in population, based upon the voting in the previous gubernatorial election; thus redistricting was done every four years. (At present, redistricting is done every ten years, based upon the preceding U.S. census results.)Tina Daunt and Seema Mehta, "Council Districts Drawn to Benefit Valley, Latinos," ''Los Angeles Times,'' June 12, 2002
/ref> The numbering system established in 1925 for City Council districts began with No. 1 in the north of the city, the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

, and ended with No. 15 in the south, the

Harbor area The Los Angeles Harbor Region is in Los Angeles County, California. The area is impacted by the harbor complex consisting of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. Geography City of Los Angeles The city of Los Angeles' official H ...

. Rough boundaries or descriptions of the 13th District have been as follows: 1925. In the eastern part of the city, covering Monterey Hills, Montecito Heights, Elysian Park and part of Echo Park. It was described as the "North End, extending to Mt. Washington Drive, Avenue 44 and Marmion Way." 1926. "Old North End," with district headquarters at 3014 Terry Place. 1932–33. East boundary: Sheffield Street. South: Alhambra Avenue. West: Benton Way. North: An irregular line from Pullman Street to Fountain Avenue. 1940. Essentially the same as before, but with the district extended westward to

Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length betwe ...

and south to Valley Boulevard. 1960. The 13th District took over most of

. It extended from the Alhambra city limits to Fairfax Avenue. 1964.

, Echo Park and portions of Los Feliz and Lincoln Heights. 1973. Touches

Eagle Rock Eagle Rock may refer to: Entertainment * "Eagle Rock" (song), a hit single in 1971 by Australian band Daddy Cool * "Eagle Rock", a song by Motörhead * Eagle Rock Entertainment, a record label Places * Eagle Rock (formation), in California * Eag ...

on the east and reaches into Hollywood on the west. 1975. Highland Park, Hollywood,

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater,

Glassell Park Glassell Park is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, California, in the San Rafael Hills. Population The 2000 U.S. Census counted 23,469 residents in the 2.75-square-mile Glassell Park neighborhood—or 8,524 people per square mile, an averag ...

, Cypress Park, Elysian Valley,

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...

and parts of Echo Park and Eagle Rock. 1986. After several attempts at redrawing councilmanic districts in accordance with a U.S. court order to provide for increased Latino representation, the City Council in 1986 adopted a plan that stripped

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

, Echo Park and adjoining areas from the 13th District but kept

and

and also cut north into Studio City. The result was a decided shift to the north and west, including part of Studio City within the

and all of

Coldwater Canyon Coldwater Canyon is a canyon running perpendicular to and over the central Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A section of the canyon south of Mulholland Drive is also a neighborhood in the Beverly Crest Neig ...

. The eastern boundary was roughly the east edge of Elysian Park.

Population

Sixty percent of district residents are foreign-born — 62 percent

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

, 16 percent

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 16 percent

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

, 3 percent

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, and 3 percent American Indian, Mixed Race or other. The district has significant populations of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

, Central American,

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, Korean,

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

Cambodian Cambodian usually refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Cambodia ** Cambodian people (or Khmer people) ** Cambodian language (or Khmer language) ** For citizens and nationals of Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia ** Fo ...

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

. More than 80 percent of residents are renters, and the

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

is $24,074. Forty percent of children live in

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

. Sixteen percent of residents have no education beyond the sixth grade and 46 percent have no

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

; 17 percent have a bachelor's degree or higher. The average household size is 2.9 persons. Thirty percent of the population is under 20 years, while 11 percent is over 60.Council District 13 demographics
/ref> District 13 also has a large

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

population, and is the site of the historic

Black Cat Tavern The Black Cat Tavern is an LGBT historic site located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1967, it was the site of one of the first demonstrations in the United States protesting police brutality against LGBT people, pre ...

, where, in 1967, an LGBT+ uprising took place. In 2017, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of this event, the local City Council office hosted a commemoration.

Officeholders

Fourteen men and two women have represented this district. This is the largest number of people to have represented any City Council district.

References

*Note: ''Access to most ''Los Angeles Times'' links requires the use of a library card.''

External links

Official Los Angeles City Council District 13 website
{{coord missing, Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles City Council districts LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13 LACD13