In 2023, according to East Palo Alto Police Department statistics released last week, the turnaround seemed complete: zero homicides. East Palo Alto, wedged between San Francisco Bay and Palo Alto, was home to a little more than 28,000 people in the last census count. “East Palo Alto was considered like a small Black mecca,” said Bains, who lives and works there to this day. During the nation’s crack cocaine epidemic, about 17% of East Palo Alto residents lived in poverty, higher than the national level. Residents used to say that in Palo Alto, there were drive-ins; in East Palo Alto, there were drive-bys.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 08, 2024 16:03 UTC