Mar Vista Gardens

{{Short description|Housing project in Los Angeles}}

{{Infobox housing project

|building name= Mar Vista Gardens

|image = File:Mar Vista Gardens HACLA 2023 March 01.jpg

|caption =

|location = Los Angeles, California

|coordinates = {{coord|33.9915|-118.4131|type:landmark_region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}

|status = completed

|constructed = 1954

|demolished =

|governing body = Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles

|famous residents =

}}

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 and Sepulveda Creek Channel. It is operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA).

Designed by architect Albert Criz, it was completed in 1954 as one of the slum clearance measures that were inspired by the Federal Housing Act of 1949.{{cite web|title=Mar Vista Gardens|website=Los Angeles Conservancy|url=https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/mar-vista-gardens|accessdate = 28 August 2020}}

It is the westernmost large housing project in the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) system, and contains 62 buildings and 601 apartments, some of which 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. As of 2020, it is a home for more than 1800 residents.{{cite news|author=Emily Alpert Reyesstaff|date=28 August 2020|title=Mail delivery suspended at LA public housing complex with over 1,800 residents|website=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-28/mar-vista-mail}}

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 saw the rise of the Culver City Boyz, an infamous Chicano street gang. In 2003, some of the Culver City Boyz had been expelled from public housing due to the implementation and enforcement of strict rules.[http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=362&IssueNum=22] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704080819/http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=362&IssueNum=22|date=July 4, 2007}} However, the gang remains active, as the constitutionality of the injunction has been tested. Alleged members of the gang settled a class action suit over the practice of enforcing curfews for suspected gang members with the City of Los Angeles for $30 million of job training and apprenticeships for members of the class action suit.{{Cite news|url=https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/819463-los-angeles-gang-injunction-class-action-settlement/|title=Los Angeles Gang Injunction Class Action Settlement|date=2017-09-13|work=Top Class Actions|access-date=2018-08-18|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailynews.com/2016/03/16/la-will-pay-up-to-30-million-to-settle-lawsuit-over-gang-curfews/|title=LA will pay up to $30 million to settle lawsuit over gang curfews|date=2016-03-16|work=Daily News|access-date=2018-08-18|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.publiccounsel.org/stories?id=0194|title=Sweeping Settlement Reached On Behalf of Angelenos Whose Rights Were Violated Through Unconstitutional Gang Injunction|language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite web|url = http://www.hacla.org/en/cms/9140/|title = L.A. Public Housing Residents to Get Free Internet|date = 2 August 2013|accessdate = 11 April 2015|website = The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150414231336/http://www.hacla.org/en/cms/9140/|archivedate = 14 April 2015}}

The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.