Baldwin Hills is in southwestern Los Angeles, Calif., in the central hills overlooking the Los Angeles Basin, and in the flats immediately to their north. Baldwin Hills and other surrounding geography are named for the famous 19th-century horse racing pioneer, Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin.

African Americans comprise roughly 78.5 percent of Baldwin Hills' population, the largest predominantly White section being Village Green. It is one of the wealthiest majority-Black areas in the United States. Prior to 1965, it was known as "Pill Hill," because a large number of doctors were believed to live there. After African Americans began moving into the area, especially musicians and film actors excluded from upscale westside neighborhoods, it was given nicknames such as the Golden Ghetto and the Black Beverly Hills.

It has been home to such celebrities as singers Ray Charles, Tina Turner and former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. It has seen a recent small influx of White, Asian, and Latino families, drawn to its relatively affordable, yet high-quality, housing.

Baldwin Hills Estates
Subdivisions of Baldwin Hills include Baldwin Hills Estates. The area is characterized by hillside houses with swimming pools and some condominiums, which often jut out from steep hillsides, perched on stilts. The southern portion of Baldwin Hills is actually outside the Los Angeles City limits  in the unincorporated Los Angeles County area that also shares space with View Park-Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights. Stocker Street divides Baldwin Hills from View Park. The northeast face of the former overlooks the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Mall.

Baldwin Village
“The Jungle,” named for its plush landscaping, consists largely of two-story, apartment buildings of 10 or more units, often surrounding a swimming pool, built in the late 1950s. Since the mid-1980s, the city has promoted use of the name "Baldwin Village." Originally occupied mostly by adults, young families not yet able to afford homes began to move in around the same time that de-segregation triggered White flight in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, Black gangs began dealing drugs in the vicinity. By the 1990s the area had become a low-income, predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhood, its glass entryways gated and its swimming pools filled in.

--compiled from Internet sources