There are an estimated 62 Storefront Churches and 28 Korean Churches in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
I counted these churches by walking the main streets of Westlake on the last week of August 2016 from Olympic Blvd. to the 101 highway and from the 110 highway to Hoover St. This area is about 2.65 square miles. There are an additional 14 storefront churches and 3 Korean churches in neighboring Pico Union. I know my numbers are inaccurate because I could have easily missed churches that were not visibly identified as churches. I also know that my map will be obsolete in 6 months as I’m sure churches close down and open regularly in this neighborhood. I took on this seemingly futile task of counting churches simply to demonstrate that there is an abnormally high number of storefront churches and Korean churches in this neighborhood. I am certain these numbers say something significant about the unique expression of sacred spaces in Los Angeles, but I am not exactly sure what kind of statement this map communicates. Is there an informant out there who knows the differences between each of these storefront churches? In the same way, is there an informant that can differentiate between these Korean churches in a neighborhood that is only 16.5% Asian?
Blue Markers represent Korean churches
Yellow Markers represent Storefront churches
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