As shown on the adjourning chart, Los Angeles County Redevelopment Indebtedness currently totals 14,517,940,376. With a population of 9,802,800, this averages out to approximately $1,481 per person.

While Inglewood is ranked 11th among the Counties 36 largest cities, it is only ranked 25th in terms ot total redevelopment indebtedness. Considering that redevelopment indebtedness is a major tool for improving or alleviating blighted conditions, Inglewood’s $84,460,000 reported indebtedness is surprisingly low for a municipality that has long been associated with inner-city economic stagnation.

Even so, Inglewood’s reported indebtedness fails to provide a true picture of the city’s economic circumstances. By including Hollywood Park Race Track in the Century Project Area in 1981, Inglewood benefited both from the racetrack’s construction of the Casino (fomrerly the Cary Grant Pavillion) and resale to Churchill Downs Company—without risking CRA funds. As a result, subsequent charts will show that Inglewood’s CRA “tax increment revenues” are disproportionately higher than it’s at risk indebtedness.

Further, while Inglewood’s African American population has dropped, both Lancaster and Palmdale had a sizeable increase in the last decade.

It must be stressed that Redevelopment Indebtedness is the single most important tool for cities to improve stagnated and blighted circumstances. Those cities with the highest indebtedness are currently in the forefront of making a strong economic bid for 21st Century dominance in Los Angeles County and Southern California.