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. Many Westside gang members, including the "Santa Monica 13" in Santa Monica, eventually relocated to Inglewood and 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.