USC has been an integral part of Los Angeles since the university's founding in 1880, and through the years has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to its surrounding communities. Creating partnerships with our neighbors to ensure that our streets are safe, our children are healthy and well educated, and our local business and institutions thrive has become a hallmark of USC's community-service efforts.

What's more, both of USC's two main campuses are located in historic districts of the city. In his inaugural address, USC President C. L. Max Nikias identified recognizing the surrounding community "as the jewel that it is" as a high priority for his administration.

"A simple drive up Vermont Avenue does not simply show us a city," he said. "It displays to us the extraordinary span of Pacific Rim, in microcosm. We ... embrace this community as a unique social laboratory, within the context of our mission in education, social-science scholarship, health care and public service."

University Park Neighborhood

A residential community located just south of downtown Los Angeles, University Park is home to an abundance of museums, galleries, theatres, sports venues, gardens, libraries and churches. University Park also contains the largest cluster of historically recognized sites in the city. (University Park neighborhood resources map)

Health Sciences Campus Neighborhood

Like University Park, the neighborhoods surrounding USC's Health Sciences campus are a mosaic of past and present, home to parks and historic sites as well as arts, cultural and educational institutions. Both Boyle Heights, just south of campus, and Lincoln Heights, to the north, have long been destinations for immigrant groups, reflecting the cultural richness that diversity inevitably brings. (Health Sciences campus neighborhood resources map)