Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles

Administrative History

During the Depression era, the City of Los Angeles was in the throes of a severe housing crisis. The need for affordable and decent housing was acute, as overcrowding was common, and deteriorated and substandard housing were widespread. Such urban conditions were not limited to Los Angeles, causing concern in cities across the nation.

In response to this crisis, the Roosevelt administration established the United States Housing Authority in 1937 to develop low-cost public housing which sought to alleviate overcrowding in inner cities and replace deteriorated housing in depressed areas. Soon thereafter in 1938, the City of Los Angeles established its own local program, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA).

Under the 1937 Federal Housing Act, HACLA constructed ten (10) public housing projects in Los Angeles: Aliso Village, Avalon Gardens, Estrada Courts, Hacienda Village, Pico Gardens, Pueblo del Rio, Ramona Gardens, Rancho San Pedro, Rose Hill Courts, and William Mead Homes.

The outbreak of World War II boosted defense-related manufacturing in Southern California and drew a multitude of unemployed workers to the surrounding areas. This created a shift in Los Angeles housing needs from sheltering the poor to housing defense workers, military families and veterans. Permanent public war housing projects were constructed and managed by HACLA, including Channel Heights, Dana Strand Village, Normont Terrace, Portsmouth Homes, and Wilmington Hall Cottages. Many temporary public war housing projects were also established, such as Banning Homes, Corregidor Park, Imperial Courts, and Jordan Downs. Finally, projects like Basilone Homes, Keppler Grove and Rodger Young Village were constructed specifically to house war veterans.

Public housing construction continued post-war under the 1949 Federal Housing Act. In Los Angeles this meant the development of Mar Vista Gardens, Nickerson Gardens, San Fernando Gardens, and extensions to several previously existing housing projects.

However signs of discord between public housing advocates and members of the real estate industry were evident and growing stronger with the completion of each new project. In an effort to curtail the growth of public housing, public housing opponents painted it as 'creeping socialism' and 'one step this side of Communism' in local media and public meetings. During the McCarthy era, this strategy proved extremely effective. Several housing project developments, including Elysian Park Heights (Chavez Ravine), were canceled and employees of HACLA, such as Frank Wilkinson, were labeled as Communists, suspended and eventually fired.

With the decline of pubic housing in the 1950s, Los Angeles began a shift, and an eventual separation, of public housing from urban redevelopment. The City experienced a move from community development to corporate development, a move which has significantly shaped its urban landscape of today.