Aliso Village was a

housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It was built in 1942 and demolished 1999. The parcel was replaced by

Pueblo del Sol Pueblo del Sol is a housing project in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California. It is operated by the McCormack Baron Salazar management company. Administered by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Pueblo del Sol occupies the Los A ...

. The complex was owned and managed by the

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) is a state-chartered public agency. Established in 1938, HACLA provides the largest stock of affordable housing in the city Los Angeles, California and is one of the nation's oldest public ...

History

Aliso Village was one of the most impoverished areas of the city, and by the 1930s was considered one of the last remaining slums in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Reformer

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...

had visited The Flats in 1905 and 1908 and reported that the slums are worst in country and rents are higher. A survey conducted by the city in the 1937 deemed 20% of the city's dwellings "unfit for human habitation," including most of The Flats. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

(HACLA) razed The Flats and built Aliso Village projects in their place. The landscaping was by the firm of Bashford and Barlow. Like most of HACLA's 1940s projects, the Aliso Village projects were hailed at the time of their construction as some of the finest examples of the principles espoused by the

garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...

, and were racially integrated to boot. Soon after the end the war, Aliso Village lost most of their non-Latino populations, and were increasingly populated by Mexican immigrants. With the river on one side and a massive rail yard on another, the construction of the East Los Angeles Interchange further isolated them from the rest of the city, and the closure of the

Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

dramatically reduced the mobility of many of the projects' residents. By the 1970s, overcrowding had eliminated much of Aliso Village's once-vaunted green spaces, physical deterioration had become rampant, and gangs were an increasing problem. In the 1980s the residents of Aliso Village began to organize with the support of Dolores Mission Church and its community organization, UNO, and began to address these problems. By the late eighties the residents of the two housing projects had developed a network of community groups that pushed for better services and began negotiating truces between the different gangs, thus reducing the level of violence. In 1996, HACLA wrote off the projects, against the residents desires'. In 2000 Aliso Village was demolished and replaced with the

New Urbanist New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually inf ...

"workforce housing" project. In the process two thirds of the residents of the housing projects were displaced in a situation reminiscent of the

Chavez Ravine Chavez Ravine is a shallow L-shaped canyon in Los Angeles, California. It sits in a large promontory of hills north of downtown Los Angeles, next to Major League Baseball's Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine was named for Julian A. Chavez, Julian Cha ...

incident.

Crime/Gang Activity

Aliso Village had a very high crime and poverty rate in the 80's and 90's. In addition to a number of gangs that carved out territory in the complex from the 1940s to the 1990s. Such gangs being the 1st East Coast Crips (active), Primera Flats 13, The Mob Crew 13, Al Capone 13 (inactive), Cuatro Flats 13, East Los Angeles 13 (inactive) and Aliso Village Brims/Bloods (extinct).

Schools

Utah Street Elementary school was located at the center of the Aliso Village projects. Utah Street school was mainly attended by Aliso Village residents. Pico Aliso and Pico residents had to walk up the hill to Second Street Elementary School.

Notable residents

Sam Balter Samuel Balter Jr. (October 15, 1909 – August 8, 1998) was an American basketball player who won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was also a renowned sportscaster. Career Balter was born in Detroit, Michigan. He went first to Li ...

- basketball,

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Felipe Esparza Felipe Esparza is a Mexican born American stand-up comedian and actor. He began performing stand-up in 1994. He won ''Last Comic Standing'' in 2010. Esparza has hosted a weekly podcast called ''What's Up Fool?'' since 2014. Early life and educa ...

, stand-up comedian and actor *

Mike Garrett Michael Lockett Garrett (born April 12, 1944) is a former American football player who won the Heisman Trophy in 1965 as a halfback for the USC Trojans. Garrett played professional football for eight seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and San ...

- football, won 1965

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

Paul Gonzales Paul Garza Gonzales (born April 18, 1964) is an American former professional boxer, who won the light flyweight gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Amateur career Gonzales was the winner of the Val Barker Trophy for Outstanding Boxer at t ...

- boxer,

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

* Daniel Ramos -

Graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

tagger, known for tagging "CHAKA" * Sylvester - disco singer, most notable for "

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a 1978 song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released as the second single from Sylvester's fourth album, '' Step II'' (1978). The song was already ...

" and "

Dance (Disco Heat) "Dance (Disco Heat)" is a song by American singer Sylvester and his backup vocalists Two Tons O' Fun. The song appears on his 1978 album, ''Step II''. Chart performance The song was Sylvester's first Top 40 hit in the United States, where it pe ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Utah Street Elementary Home PageSecond Street Elementary Home PagePhotograph of site for Aliso Village housing project, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, 1941 September 5
Public housing in Los Angeles Boyle Heights, Los Angeles Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles