Ramona Gardens
Encyclopedia
Ramona Gardens is a public housing
development the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California
, USA. It is operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles
. Currently and historically Latino, it is also the home of the Big Hazard street gang, connected to the Mexican Mafia
, and has been the epicenter of the illegal drug market in all of Southern California.
The development abuts the Interstate 10
and is part of LAPD's Hollenbeck Division.
, Lewis Eugene Wilson, and Eugene Weston Jr.. They had previously designed the Utah Street housing project under the name of Utah Street Architects Association and designed the Aliso Village
project under the name Housing Group Architects.
The project was originally named Ramona Village, it was changed in November 1939 because it conflicted with the name of a private land development. At the time, Ramona Gardens was billed a "slum-clearance and low-rent housing project". Construction began in February or March 1940, with a groundbreaking ceremony on March 16, 1940 attended by Governor Culbert Olson
.
It was built on 32 acres (12.9 ha) with 610 apartment units in over 100 buildings. The planned cost was $2 million dollars, 90% funded by the United States Housing Authority
through the Housing Act of 1937
. It was built by Herbert M. Baruch's Baruch Corporation.
Demonstration units opened in October 1940, with the first six families occupying apartments on 2 January 1941. It was dedicated on 22 February 1941 with both Governor Olson and Mayor Fletcher Bowron
in attendance. At that time, 252 of 610 units were occupied, with the remainder expected to be complete within two months. The Christian Science Monitor
praised the "home conveniences that many of [the residents] never before enjoyed- electric refrigerators, new gas ranges, gas water heaters, and wall furnaces- at rentals ranging from $11 to $18 a month, including all utilities." Two hundred members of the American Institute of Architects
(AIA) toured the development in May 1941, including architect and AIA President Richmond Shreve
.
until Interstate 10 widening required it to be moved in about 1969. The nursery continued operating through at least 1974. It was used as a training school by education students at California State University, Los Angeles
and by the Head Start Program.
In 1988, 10 mobile homes or trailers were brought in to Ramona Gardens and parked on playfields. They were used as transitional housing for the city's large homeless population. Residents agreed to participate after receiving promises they would be given to families, not "the stereotypical single men who live on Skid Row."
After the initial number of 610 housing units in just over 100 buildings, varying numbers of units have been given: 488 units in 1985, 497 with about 2000 predominantly Latino residents in 2007.
The housing contains public murals that were created by the residents of Ramona Gardens between 1973 and 1977, with the assistance of the Mechiano Arts Center. At least one was painted by Willie Herron inside the administration building.
In 1982, motivated by President Ronald Reagan
, residents repainted every building in the complex in five months. They used tools and paint from the Housing Authority and sponsored by the East Los Angeles Community Development Project. The Big Hazard gang brought in rivals from Avenidas
, Dogtown, and Garrity's to work on the project. Acknowledging the fresh paint and graffiti-free buildings, the Los Angeles Times
named the area as the "center for drug traffic", remarking users "from as far away as San Diego drive to [Ramona Gardens] to buy drugs". PCP
was heavily trafficked, but heroin and marijuana were also common. Both dealers and customers were often from outside of the projects but came to Ramona Gardens for the large and open marketplace, called a "24-hour drive-through drug market" by a police officer. Police were assigned on daily foot patrols and would often bring their first arrest to the station within 30 minutes of their shift. A tenants' association was formed, as well as a group called Mothers Against PCP and the federally funded Narcotics Prevention Project.
, is from Ramona Gardens. Gang and drug activity historically centered around The Square, an intersection and parking lot in the project.
An Alternative Education
and Work Center (AEWC) opened at Ramona Gardens in December 1989, giving Big Hazard gang members a place to finish high school, since Lincoln High School
is in rival gang territory.
Gang-on-gang crime occurs in and near the park. Two teenagers were shot and stabbed to death while attending a baby shower
in January 1974, less than a month after another gang-related shooting fatality.
The housing project is especially known for a pattern of tension between residents, gang members, and police. In 1991, police shot and killed an unarmed gang member, leading to an FBI investigation and grand jury probe of the police department for it and three other police killings. A firefight between gang members and police in 1996 ended with one gang member dead, a police officer wounded, and an angry crowd. Gang members shot at patrol vehicles in 2006. In 2007, a gang member died while in LAPD custody. The 2007 incident erupted in a riot involving 50 gang members and 100 police equipped in riot control
gear.
The housing has also had significant racial tension. In 1967, a 17 year old "Mexican boy", a suspect to an arson that occurred minutes before, was shot and killed by police. The police showed in large numbers to mediate the tension. The Los Angeles Sentinel
said the scene was "an ominous, uneasy silence, like a placid lid resting atop a seething volcano." Further saying that help was being provided to the blacks by the Symbionese Liberation Army
, and that the sides "were at war", with only the "strong presence of police officers who live in daily and nightly fear of snipers." Nine days later, officer was cleared by the coroner's jury as a justifiable shooting. In 1991, two black families were firebombed in a racially motivated incident.
Other crime has occurred. In 1974, four teenagers shot and killed a Thai
ice cream vendor in what was called a "thrill killing
" while children were waiting for ice cream.
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
development the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, USA. It is operated by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles
The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles is the public housing agency for Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1938. There are more than 60 public housing locations in Los Angeles.-History:...
. Currently and historically Latino, it is also the home of the Big Hazard street gang, connected to the Mexican Mafia
Mexican Mafia
The Mexican Mafia , also known as La Eme , 13 is a Mexican American criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the United States.-Foundation:...
, and has been the epicenter of the illegal drug market in all of Southern California.
The development abuts the Interstate 10
Interstate 10 in California
Interstate 10 , the major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs in the U.S. state of California east from Santa Monica, on the Pacific Ocean, through Los Angeles and San Bernardino to the border with Arizona...
and is part of LAPD's Hollenbeck Division.
Initial construction
The Ramona Gardens project was designed by Housing Architects Associated, made up of Ralph Flewelling, George J. AdamsGeorge J. Adams
George Jones Adams was the leader of a schismatic Latter Day Saint sect who led an ill-fated effort to establish a colony of Americans in Palestine. Adams was also briefly a member of the First Presidency in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...
, Lewis Eugene Wilson, and Eugene Weston Jr.. They had previously designed the Utah Street housing project under the name of Utah Street Architects Association and designed the Aliso Village
Aliso Village
Aliso Village was a housing project in Los Angeles, California. It was built in 1942 and demolished 1999. The parcel was replaced by Pueblo del Sol.The complex was owned and managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles....
project under the name Housing Group Architects.
The project was originally named Ramona Village, it was changed in November 1939 because it conflicted with the name of a private land development. At the time, Ramona Gardens was billed a "slum-clearance and low-rent housing project". Construction began in February or March 1940, with a groundbreaking ceremony on March 16, 1940 attended by Governor Culbert Olson
Culbert Olson
Culbert Levy Olson was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Olson was involved in Utah and California politics and was elected as the 29th Governor of California from 1939 to 1943.-Personal background:...
.
It was built on 32 acres (12.9 ha) with 610 apartment units in over 100 buildings. The planned cost was $2 million dollars, 90% funded by the United States Housing Authority
United States Housing Authority
The United States Housing Authority, or USHA, was an agency created during 1937 as part of the New Deal.It was designed to lend money to the states or communities for low-cost construction. Units for about 650,000 low-income people but mostly homeless were started...
through the Housing Act of 1937
Housing Act of 1937
The Housing Act of 1937, sometimes called the Wagner-Steagall Act, provided for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies to improve living conditions for low-income families....
. It was built by Herbert M. Baruch's Baruch Corporation.
Demonstration units opened in October 1940, with the first six families occupying apartments on 2 January 1941. It was dedicated on 22 February 1941 with both Governor Olson and Mayor Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron
Fletcher Bowron was the 35th Mayor of Los Angeles, California from September 26, 1938 until June 30, 1953. Until Thomas Bradley passed his length of service during the 1980s, Bowron held the distinction of having the longest tenure in that position in city history.Bowron was born in Poway,...
in attendance. At that time, 252 of 610 units were occupied, with the remainder expected to be complete within two months. The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
praised the "home conveniences that many of [the residents] never before enjoyed- electric refrigerators, new gas ranges, gas water heaters, and wall furnaces- at rentals ranging from $11 to $18 a month, including all utilities." Two hundred members of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
(AIA) toured the development in May 1941, including architect and AIA President Richmond Shreve
Richmond Shreve
Richmond Harold Shreve was a renowned Canadian architect....
.
Community efforts and further development
Jewish residents of Boyle Heights started the racially and economically integrated Heights Cooperative Nursery School for Ramona Gardens children in 1949. It was held at the Jewish Cultural Center nearby in City TerraceCity Terrace, California
City Terrace is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California. It is considered part of the East Los Angeles region. The U.S. census numbers are included with East Los Angeles.-Geography and transportation:...
until Interstate 10 widening required it to be moved in about 1969. The nursery continued operating through at least 1974. It was used as a training school by education students at California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles is a public comprehensive university, part of the California State University system...
and by the Head Start Program.
In 1988, 10 mobile homes or trailers were brought in to Ramona Gardens and parked on playfields. They were used as transitional housing for the city's large homeless population. Residents agreed to participate after receiving promises they would be given to families, not "the stereotypical single men who live on Skid Row."
After the initial number of 610 housing units in just over 100 buildings, varying numbers of units have been given: 488 units in 1985, 497 with about 2000 predominantly Latino residents in 2007.
The housing contains public murals that were created by the residents of Ramona Gardens between 1973 and 1977, with the assistance of the Mechiano Arts Center. At least one was painted by Willie Herron inside the administration building.
In 1982, motivated by President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, residents repainted every building in the complex in five months. They used tools and paint from the Housing Authority and sponsored by the East Los Angeles Community Development Project. The Big Hazard gang brought in rivals from Avenidas
The Avenues (gang)
The Avenues, also known as Avenidas or AVE's, is a Mexican-American street gang. The Avenues, like most Mexican gangs in Los Angeles, are under the direct control of the Mexican Mafia when sent to State, County, or Federal prisons.- History :...
, Dogtown, and Garrity's to work on the project. Acknowledging the fresh paint and graffiti-free buildings, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
named the area as the "center for drug traffic", remarking users "from as far away as San Diego drive to [Ramona Gardens] to buy drugs". PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
was heavily trafficked, but heroin and marijuana were also common. Both dealers and customers were often from outside of the projects but came to Ramona Gardens for the large and open marketplace, called a "24-hour drive-through drug market" by a police officer. Police were assigned on daily foot patrols and would often bring their first arrest to the station within 30 minutes of their shift. A tenants' association was formed, as well as a group called Mothers Against PCP and the federally funded Narcotics Prevention Project.
Gang activity, drugs, police tension, and crime
The street gang Big Hazard ("Hazard Grande"), associated with the Mexican MafiaMexican Mafia
The Mexican Mafia , also known as La Eme , 13 is a Mexican American criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the United States.-Foundation:...
, is from Ramona Gardens. Gang and drug activity historically centered around The Square, an intersection and parking lot in the project.
An Alternative Education
Alternative education
Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...
and Work Center (AEWC) opened at Ramona Gardens in December 1989, giving Big Hazard gang members a place to finish high school, since Lincoln High School
Abraham Lincoln High School (Los Angeles, California)
Abraham Lincoln High School, usually referred to simply as Lincoln High School, is a secondary school located in the Lincoln Heights district of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the East Los Angeles-area community, surrounded by El Sereno, Chinatown, Boyle Heights and...
is in rival gang territory.
Gang-on-gang crime occurs in and near the park. Two teenagers were shot and stabbed to death while attending a baby shower
Baby shower
In some countries, a baby shower is a way to celebrate the pending or recent birth of a child by presenting gifts to the parents at a party. The term "shower" is often assumed to mean that the expectant mother is "showered" with gifts.-Description:...
in January 1974, less than a month after another gang-related shooting fatality.
The housing project is especially known for a pattern of tension between residents, gang members, and police. In 1991, police shot and killed an unarmed gang member, leading to an FBI investigation and grand jury probe of the police department for it and three other police killings. A firefight between gang members and police in 1996 ended with one gang member dead, a police officer wounded, and an angry crowd. Gang members shot at patrol vehicles in 2006. In 2007, a gang member died while in LAPD custody. The 2007 incident erupted in a riot involving 50 gang members and 100 police equipped in riot control
Riot control
Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
gear.
The housing has also had significant racial tension. In 1967, a 17 year old "Mexican boy", a suspect to an arson that occurred minutes before, was shot and killed by police. The police showed in large numbers to mediate the tension. The Los Angeles Sentinel
Los Angeles Sentinel
The Los Angeles Sentinel is a weekly African American-owned newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. The paper boasts of reaching 125,000 readers , making it the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspaper in the Western United States.The Sentinel was founded and first...
said the scene was "an ominous, uneasy silence, like a placid lid resting atop a seething volcano." Further saying that help was being provided to the blacks by the Symbionese Liberation Army
Symbionese Liberation Army
The Symbionese Liberation Army was an American self-styled left-wing urban militant group active between 1973 and 1975 that considered itself a revolutionary vanguard army...
, and that the sides "were at war", with only the "strong presence of police officers who live in daily and nightly fear of snipers." Nine days later, officer was cleared by the coroner's jury as a justifiable shooting. In 1991, two black families were firebombed in a racially motivated incident.
Other crime has occurred. In 1974, four teenagers shot and killed a Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
ice cream vendor in what was called a "thrill killing
Thrill killing
A thrill killing is a term used to describe a premeditated murder committed by a person who is not necessarily suffering from mental instability, and does not derive sexual satisfaction from killing victims, or have anything against them, and sometimes do not know them, but is instead motivated by...
" while children were waiting for ice cream.
External links
- L.A. Community Starved For Healthful Food Options on All Things ConsideredAll Things ConsideredAll Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
by Mandalit Del Barco - The Murals of Ramona Gardens at the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles
- Photograph of Ramona Gardens at University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC) - Photograph of Ramona Gardens at USC