Felony Flats

Felony Flats is the name of crime-ridden neighborhoods of several cities in the Western United States. They are usually near a river or creek. In some Western cities, similar neighborhoods are known as skid road.

• Aberdeen, Washington's Felony Flats, beside the Wishkah River, best known as the childhood home of Kurt Cobain^[1]46°58′52″N 123°48′32″W / 46.981°N 123.809°W
• Apple Valley, California neighborhood, near California State Route 18^[2] 34°31′53″N 117°13′25″W / 34.5315°N 117.2235°W
• Portland, Oregon's Lents neighborhood, beside Johnson Creek, plagued by crystal meth addiction^[3][4] 45°28′30″N 122°33′43″W / 45.475°N 122.562°W
• Part of Spokane, Washington's West Central neighborhood, near the Spokane River^[5][6] 47°39′47″N 117°26′42″W / 47.663°N 117.445°W
• Vancouver–Camas, Washington, near the Columbia River^[7]
• North side of Wasilla, Alaska near Mile 49 on the George Parks Highway^[8] 61°34′55″N 149°36′29″W / 61.582°N 149.608°W

The similarly disparaging term "Poverty Flats" was bestowed on many Western towns, including what later became Dunsmuir, California, Redding, California,^[9][10] Lee Vining, California (was Poverty Flat), Grant, Idaho,^[11] Wolf Point, Montana,^[12]:1 and Moab, Utah.^{[13]:41[14]:253} A fictional Northern California mining town called Poverty Flat was depicted in the 1915 movie The Lily of Poverty Flat, based on the Bret Harte book of the same name, and shot near Santa Cruz, California.^[15]

See also

• The Flats, once an Irish ghetto in Cleveland

References

1. Seminara, Dave (2014-03-25). "Chasing Kurt Cobain in Washington State". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
2. Steve Hunt (January 25, 2015), "Felony Flats? Can't we fix this?", Daily Press, Victorville, California: Local Media Group, Inc.
3. Lawrence Maushard (February 28, 2008), "Good-Bye, Felony Flats: Southeast Residents Develop a "No-Tolerance Attitude"", Portland Mercury
4. Mesh, Aaron (January 22, 2014). "Razed & Confused: $96 Million Spent to Revive East Portland's Lents. Wheres the Rebirth?". Portland News, Movies, Music, Restaurants, Arts - Willamette Week. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
5. Virginia de Leon (April 28, 2002), "Neighborhood marks anniversary of COPS West ; Station transformed area known as 'Felony Flats'", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington – via HighBeam (subscription required)
6. Jones, Jacob (2012-12-18), "CRIME AND PROGRESS — Recent West Central homicides renew community vigilance", The Pacific Northwest Inlander, retrieved 2015-08-20
7. "Clark Countys pockets of poverty", The Columbian, Vancouver, WA, October 4, 2009 – via HighBeam (subscription required), [K]nown to its residents as the original Felony Flats...like driving into Appalachia...Untouched by wave after wave of urban redevelopment, forgotten by maps, carefully ignored by code enforcers and often owned by out-of-town landlords, these clusters of disintegrating shacks and trailers are tucked into crannies from Fruit Valley to Camas...they live in the worst corners of town.
8. Boots, Michelle Theriault (2012-10-13). "'Felony Flats' on Parks Highway to give way to road widening". Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
9. Historic walking tours: Redding's railroad reservation, Shasta Historical Society, c. 2014, retrieved 2015-08-20
10. Dottie Smith (June 21, 2011), "Before Redding, there was Poverty Flats", Taking Care of History (blog)
11. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grant, Idaho — "The variants, Poverty Flats and Gravy Bend, were acquired during impoverished times when residents had to eat watered-down gravy."
12. Johansen 2010.
13. McCourt 2007.
14. Van Cott 1990.
15. James P. Leonard (February 16, 1915), "The Lily of Poverty Flat — A Visit to Mimic Pioneer Village Where Movies Are Being Made", Santa Cruz Daily Surf, p. 8 – via Santa Cruz Public Library

Sources

• Johansen, B.E. (2010). Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-35554-7.
• McCourt, T. (2007). Cowpokes to Bike Spokes: The Story of Moab, Utah. Johnson Books. ISBN 978-1-55566-396-4.
• Van Cott, J.W. (1990). Utah Place Names: A Comprehensive Guide to the Origins of Geographic Names : a Compilation. University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-87480-345-7.