Little Bangladesh () is a neighborhood in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

History

Little Bangladesh was officially designated by the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

in 2010. It is the cultural and culinary hub of L.A.'s Bangladeshi community. Designation of the

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

as “Little Bangladesh” caused some friction with some Korean-Americans in Los Angeles, who wanted the area named as a part of Koreatown. In 2009, City Councilman

Tom LaBonge Thomas J. LaBonge (October 6, 1953 – January 7, 2021) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Los Angeles City Council from 2001 to 2015, representing the city's 4th district. Education A graduate of ...

opposed the neighborhood designation, and instead suggested the community erect a statue at a local park and consider neighborhood designation sometime in the future. After neighborhood leaders organized residents for more than a year to lobby the Los Angeles City Council, Little Bangladesh received its official designation in 2010. Signage marking the area was installed in 2011.

Geography

Little Bangladesh is four-

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

area along 3rd Street between Alexandria and New Hampshire Avenues. It is a tree-lined residential community that also includes restaurants, shops and art galleries. The neighborhood is surrounded by

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

Demographics

The 2000 census showed a Bangladeshi population of 1,700 in Los Angeles County. In 2010, the South Asian Network, a cultural and advocacy group with an office nearby, estimated the Bangladeshi population in the area at more than 20,000, based on a community mapping project it did in 2005. Community leaders have identified the area as having a lower- to middle-income population.

Infrastructure

West 3rd Street, the main street and center of the neighborhood, is a significant east-west thoroughfare in

Wilshire Center Wilshire Center is a neighborhood in the Central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Wilshire Center is roughly bounded by Melrose Avenue on the north, Virgil Avenue and Hoover Street on the east, Wilton Place and Crenshaw Bouleva ...

and the rest of

Central Los Angeles Central Los Angeles is the historical urban region of the city of Los Angeles, containing downtown Los Angeles, and several nearby regions in southwest Los Angeles County, California. Geographic designation by The City of Los Angeles The Los Ang ...

. Within the official boundaries, smaller residential streets intersect 3rd Street forming five intersections from one end of the neighborhood to the other, four of which have

pedestrian crossing A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Sign ...

s, excluding South Berendo Street. There is no designated bicycle infrastructure on 3rd Street itself, but

LA Metro The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), branded as Metro, is the county agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the public transportation system in Los Angeles County, California, the mo ...

does operate a

bike share A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bot ...

station on Kenmore and 3rd, with 12 docks. The LA Metro operates Metro Bus local line 16 on 3rd with stops within the neighborhood's official boundaries on Alexandria, Catalina and New Hampshire. Metro also operates local line 204 and rapid line 754 which run on

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 be ...

which provide nearby access to the neighborhood from the stops on 3rd and Vermont. 3rd Street also lies between Metro Red Line stations on Wilshire and Vermont and Vermont and Beverly.

References

{{Ethnic groups in Los Angeles Bengali-American culture Bangladeshi-American culture Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Central Los Angeles Ethnic enclaves in California Asian-American culture in Los Angeles

History

Geography

Demographics

Infrastructure

See also

References