Sandra Lith stepped to the front of Ms. Ann’s Boutique in Inglewood, California, and approached a World Cup visitor who was browsing inside. She asked him three questions: Did he feel safe? Were people treating him well? Did he enjoy the small city nestled in the Los Angeles area?
When the visitor — who was from Canada — said yes to all three, Lith had a message for him to carry home. “You go back to Canada and tell them Inglewood is nice, Inglewood is friendly, and they should all come here some time,” she told him.
That exchange captures what Inglewood is trying to accomplish during the World Cup. The city is counting on the global attention brought by international soccer fans flooding into SoFi Stadium to help reframe how the world sees it — shifting the narrative away from poverty and crime and toward fun and recreation. With the 2028 Olympics on the horizon, and many of those events also scheduled for Inglewood, city leaders see a back-to-back opportunity to reshape the city’s reputation.
It won’t be easy. Inglewood’s image took a serious hit following the 1992 Los Angeles riots, whose epicenter was just a few blocks north of the city. The area’s reputation for danger spread worldwide, reinforced by 1990s gangsta rap. Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre immortalized it in a 1996 track with the line, “Yeah, Inglewood, Inglewood, always up to no good.” Rapper Mack 10 referenced “mo’ murders than a horror flick” in his 1997 song Inglewood Swangin’.
Those lyrics reflected a real crisis. During the 1990s, Southern California sank into a deep recession that hit Black communities especially hard. Inglewood’s official poverty rate topped 21% in 1993, and police recorded more than 2,500 violent crimes per year in the early part of that decade. In 1990 alone, 55 murders were reported.
The numbers today tell a dramatically different story. Violent crime has fallen sharply, with fewer than 10 murders recorded in both 2024 and 2025, and total violent crimes dropping below 700 in a city of roughly 105,000 residents. The poverty rate remains elevated at around 15%, but the downward trend in violence is significant.
City officials credit much of the turnaround to the development of major sports and entertainment venues in Inglewood. Billionaire investors — including Arsenal Football Club and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, and Steve Ballmer of the Intuit Dome — have poured money into the area, bringing thousands of jobs, improved city finances, and a boost to local businesses.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts, Jr. has been one of the loudest voices championing the city’s transformation. Speaking at the opening of rapper Snoop Dogg’s new store directly across from SoFi Stadium, he declared, “This is a whole new era in the city of Inglewood, it’s a whole new era. We just happen to be the number one city in the country.”
Snoop Dogg has become one of Inglewood’s most prominent boosters. The rapper, who has spent much of his career connected to the city, has opened several businesses there, including the branded clothing shop near the stadium. When he was named Los Angeles Community Chairman for the World Cup, he said, “We’re going to bring the world together, West Coast-style — unity, respect and a whole lotta love for the beautiful game.” He has also been actively promoting the upcoming 2028 Olympics.
Mayor Butts said roughly five million visitors per year are now coming through his part of Los Angeles County. Two NFL teams, an NBA franchise, and a steady calendar of concerts and events at Inglewood’s stadiums are generating a continuous flow of revenue, employment, and tax dollars for the area. “The City of Inglewood is a massive boost to the economy of the south of Los Angeles,” he said on May 6 as the city was gearing up for the world’s attention.
SoFi Stadium sits about three miles from a major SpaceX facility that employs thousands of workers, some of whom have recently benefited from a company IPO.
One Inglewood police officer stationed near the stadium noted that the tax revenue flowing in from sports and entertainment events has kept city finances healthy — enough that officers like himself are paid better than their counterparts in the City of Los Angeles. He acknowledged that some areas still struggle with elevated crime but said formerly dangerous neighborhoods have become much calmer. “You can feel it on the streets,” he said. “It’s a lot better.” Officers are even marking the occasion with special World Cup-themed badges.
Not everyone in Inglewood is celebrating, however. Residents frequently voice frustration over traffic gridlock and scarce parking on event days, which happen often. Housing advocates have raised alarms about rising home prices and rents that have pushed some long-time residents out of the city as demand for homes near the sports complex has grown.
Back at Ms. Ann’s Boutique, Lith and the shop owner said they haven’t personally seen an uptick in customers because of the World Cup, and they’ve noticed the traffic is even more congested than usual. Still, they said they’re genuinely excited that visitors from around the world are getting to experience an Inglewood that is far more welcoming than its old reputation might have led them to expect.
