Westwood

View of Westwood as seen from a drone

Westwood is a designated community area on the west side of Greenfield, California. It is located west of Downtown Greenfield.

History

Back in the late 19th century Greenfield saw a massive boom in industrial expansion and therefore needed to expand further west of the city. This was urgent because a ton of residents were displaced in order to build a port right next to Barons Bar.

At the turn of the century Barons Bar grew to a decent size, while the land right next to it was home to a few dilapidated houses and a lot of shanties because of the port expansion. But it was from 1900 that new area would be slowly built up. The neighbourhood was mostly made up of regular single-family homes or duplexes and other things alike, with wall-to-wall commercial buildings along the grand avenue's.

Multiple factory buildings were placed along the canal and towards the port which made a direct access to the railroads leading in and out of Greenfield. The current passenger railroad was relaid onto a small elevation held up by concrete walls which goes right through the neighbourhood with a train station being built on one of the main avenue's. And multiple bridges were constructed that connected Westwood and Ashfield west which made transporting goods easier with cargo-vehicles. Westwood and it's neighbouring districts generated alot of income for the city.

Rolling into the 1930s and 1940s, many factories were constructed and or updated for more for more workers and better production rates. On the very outskirts of town a few houses were built making Westwood a fairly large neighbourhood.

Westwood's most booming decade was the 1950s. During this period a ton of industries would settle inbetween Westwood and Barons Bar. Along with a massive expansion to the Greenfield Port. This caused for a major population boom and a big expansion for Westwood. As it became a hotspot for a cheap, easy living, close to the city center and to tons of jobs available. Many cheap, brand new houses were built in order to house the incoming residents moving in.

But as car-depency became a trend, the new Interstate-5 would cut right through Westwood, Barons Bar and other poor neighbourhoods. This caused many long-time residents to be displaced and the neighbourhood to change drastically. Leaving behind a path of destruction that is still seen to this day.

Westwood did not suffer too much from the car-dependent expansions. But would slowly start to fall off from it's glory days. Land value starting to decrease along with a creeping abandonment issue forming in the neighbourhood. And citizens wanted to be paid fairly, as some companies simple gave very low loans, which led up to a huge garbage strike that started from 1968 and lasting till early 1973. Devolving into a dirty, smog-filled poor ghetto. And the usual petty crimes are now starting to become more frequent.

One by one businesses and companies left the place in search to settle in well-off areas. The once grand avenues slowly being overtaking by empty lots, filth and shady stripmalls that have fallen into disrepair. Not much was left of the original Westwood apart from the decrepit, old houses and boarded up stores or factories that were literally falling apart.

With the formation of gangs, many people nicknamed it 'The Murder Grove' because of arson and rivalling gangs fighting for territory, drugs and guns, along with the pressure of major riots due to police-brutality and the government corrupt to the core. The streets once peaceful are now being fought over with rising gun violence, and the police non-stop busting traphouses and drug-trafficking operations due to the ongoing Crack Epidemic that greatly impacted the city of Greenfield.

The 1994 Earthquake left Westwood in dazzling conditions. Collapsed buildings, ruined roads and an increased level of poverty and homelessness. Which resulted in several construction companies re-doing the roads along with demolishing and cleaning up only a few of the ruins left by the disaster. But despite it's infrastructure redone, that was only a one-time fix. And to this day many poor residents have to live in decrepit, run down houses that still look battle-torn ever since. With many abandoned and burnt-down houses and stores still left gutted and torn apart, and the roads being full of garbage and looking just as awful and beat-up before the earthquake hit. And crime decreased since the 1990s but still not enough for it to be safe to walk outside. Little has been done and it's basically left as a decaying slum as of 2023.

Transit

Rail

-Info on regional rail

Subway

-Info on Subway

Highway

Interstate 5 runs to the west of Westwood. There are two main avenues that run through the district.