Mar Vista Gardens

Springtime overnight rains runoff into La Ballona Creek in this picture taken from a kite. Mar Vista Gardens can be seen on the right as a cleanup crew works under the Inglewood Blvd. overpass.
Sunrise in Mar Vista Gardens.

Mar Vista Gardens is a housing project at 11965 Allin Street in Del Rey, a district of southwestern Los Angeles County, California near Culver City, bordering Ballona Creek. It is operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA).

It is the westernmost large housing project in the HACLA system. It has 62 buildings and 601 apartments. Some of the apartments overlook Ballona Creek. In addition to housing units, the Gardens has athletic fields, handball courts, a gymnasium and a community center. A part-time health clinic is located inside the community center.

Mar Vista Gardens, while not located in Culver City proper, has used a Culver City mailing address. When originally built, the area was home to primarily Caucasian families seeking affordable housing. By the 1960s, demographics of the project changed to a predominantly Latino residency. In the 1970s, Mar Vista Gardens was the home of the Culver City Boyz, an infamous Chicano street gang. By 2003, many of the Culver City Boyz had been expelled from public housing due to the implementation and enforcement of strict rules.[1] Many Westside gang members, including the "Santa Monica 13" in Santa Monica, relocated to Inglewood and eventually relocated to the San Fernando Valley.

In 2013, Mar Vista was part of a pilot project to allow free access to the Internet for residents in order to help close the digital divide.[2]

Zoned schools

Residents of the complex are zoned to schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Notable residents

  • Tito Valenzuela (born 1957) owner of Tito's Tacos
  • Art Alexakis (born 1962) lead singer of the band Everclear
  • Yolanda del Río (born 1976) rancheras singer
  • Todd Bridges (born 1964) actor

Coordinates: 33°59′36″N 118°24′32″W / 33.9934°N 118.409°W / 33.9934; -118.409

References

  1. ↑ Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "L.A. Public Housing Residents to Get Free Internet". The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. 2 August 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.