By now it should not come as a surprise that a chart depicting the “Assessed Value-to-Population-Ratio” will result in a ranking with heavy social and political implications.

Santa Monica, noted as the upscale Westside, is ranked highest with a stunning “Assessed-to-people-Ratio” of $63,082!

Culturally committed Cerritos is high on the list, ranked 2nd as a result of a full-scale commitment to using their CRA to bring the a number of high-profile capital improvement projects to the city.

Of course, Lancaster and Palmdale, the two desert-area communities that managed to attract a number of African American families in the past decade, continue to rank high on the chart.

A noted surprise is Compton, ranked 13th, which is higher than Inglewood, ranked 18th on the chart.

Again, it must be noted that Inglewood’s Assessed Value Ratio would be much, lower if not for the activity taking place at Hollywood Park Race Track and Casino.

By now it’s clear that Inglewood’s CRA management team has totally given up on using tax allocation bonds to advance major capitol improvement redevelopment projects. Instead, the city has relied on a “pay as you go” process to develop small, low-profile projects, which are financed with the tax increment revenue they received from the merged Areas—instead of using the revenue to repay bonds used to develop major projects and developments.