Blighted Communities Rebound

Roughly four out of every 10 people in some of Southern California's most distressed areas are below the federal poverty line. That's double the overall average for Los Angeles County and a reflection of decades of neighborhood decline that are only beginning to be reversed. The areas are still being hurt by the long-running exodus of middle-class and working-class African Americans and others. The Los Angeles Times reports in a feature-length story how the economic boom has helped -- and sometimes overlooked -- Southern California's distressed areas. The LA Times reports on South-Central, Florence-Firestone, Compton, and Santa Ana.

Thanks to Chris Steins