The Watts/Willowbrook communities have experienced dramatic demographic changes over the past ten years. Further exacerbating the impacts of demographic change is a depressed economic profile of a community devastated by riots in 1965 and, again, in 1992. The disproportionate absence of industry and office related land uses, which produce jobs and a value added dimension to commercial and retail activity, leaves this community and its surrounding communities at a distinct disadvantage when compared to other economically viable markets. The following statistics extracted from the Claritas Demographic update 2001, illuminate the critical importance of the Wattstar Theatre and Education Center's goals!

• 24% of the population under age 65 live below the poverty level.
• 1,026,067 people live within 5 miles
• 51% of the population is unemployed.
• Less than 3% have obtained a Bachelors Degree
• 79% of adults (25+) have failed to complete high school.
• 5 Housing Developments are within 3 miles
  (SOURCE CLARITAS DEMOGRAPHIC UPDATE 2001)