William Mead Homes

History

The site was funded with the federal Housing Act of 1937. The proposal to build the site was rejected in December 1940 because of high land purchase costs (averaging $23,900 per acre, when other developments were as low as $2400). 8 acre was owned by the Consolidated Steel Corporation. The remaining property was on land bequeathed by William Mead, an early Los Angeles politician.

The land price was reduced to $20,000 an acre by January 1941, but didn't proceed until a federally-backed United States Housing Authority loan signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt was given on March 12, 1941.

The housing project was built in 1941-1942 and contains 449 units in 24 buildings, replacing approximately 100 substandard dwellings on the site. It occupies 15.2 acre and was constructed by the Herbert M. Baruch Corporation for $1.2 million. David Gebhard and Robert Winter state the details "slightly suggest the late 1930s Moderne."

Residency in the project was limited to low-income American citizens who had lived in Los Angeles for at least a year. It was also part of a "Negro quota" system, which mandated a maximum of 7 percent black occupancy. This changed to 15% in January 1943, and was completely removed in July 1943 after pressure and protests by the National Urban League, California Eagle, Los Angeles Sentinel, NAACP, and the CIO union. The development was opened for war workers in March 1943.

Part of the project was built on an oil refinery and a hazardous waste dump. In 1994, cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were found at levels 19 times the safe level following testing by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Playgrounds and gardening spaces were closed, and a $1.5 million soil removal and cleanup project was required in 2000. The refinery was operated by Amalgamated Oil Company, which was later purchased by Texaco. The waste dump was operated by Witco Corporation, now part of the Chemtura Corporation. At the time, the project was home to 1400 residents, many Latino and Vietnamese. The Housing Authority sued ChevronTexaco for the cleanup costs in April 2003.

Demographics

In 1992, the population was 71 percent Latino, 22 percent Asian, 4 percent African-American and 1 percent Caucasian, with a median monthly family income of $840.

Several innovative welfare-to-work programs occurred, such as the Jobs-Plus program, which was at William Mead and Imperial Courts from 1996 to 2002.

Geography

William Mead Homes is located close to the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. The housing complex is next to two government facilities, the Twin Towers Correctional Facility and the LADWP Main Street Center. Nearby neighborhoods: To the south is Chinatown, to the northeast is Cypress Park, to the east is Lincoln Heights, to the southwest is Boyle Heights, and to the west is Downtown Los Angeles.

In popular culture

The William Mead Homes has appeared in a number of films and music videos over the years, these include:

• 1963 movie comedy Critic's Choice starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
• 1997 Crime Drama One Eight Seven starring Samuel L. Jackson
• CBS crime drama Cold Case in the episode "Saving Patrick Bubley"
• The music video for Don't Be So Hard on Yourself by Jess Glynne
• 2009's Janky Promoters starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps
• Bruno Mars 2010 Grenade (song) music video
• 2008 action thriller film Street Kings starring Keanu Reeves
• The music video for John Muir by Schoolboy Q
• Episode "Lockdown" in season 3 of The Rookie
• 1990 Comedy Film House Party as Sharane's home
• 2017 The New Edition Story was also filmed there as group's home during their early childhoods

References

References

1. (March 10, 1988). "L.A. North Central Animal Care and Control Center Now Open to the Public". [[Los Angeles Times]].
2. Reid, David. (1994). "Sex, death, and God in L. A". University of California Press.
3. (13 December 1940). "One Housing Project Wins". Los Angeles Times.
4. (14 December 1940). "Housing Project Again Rejected". Los Angeles Times.
5. Ingram, James Warren. (2008). "The Rules of Ruling: Charter Reform in Los Angeles, 1850-2008 (dissertation)". [[University of California, San Diego]].
6. (13 March 1941). "President Approves Loan for Slum Clearance Here". Los Angeles Times.
7. (17 March 1941). "We Get Them Anyhow". Los Angeles Times.
8. "Engineering news-record, Volume 128, Part 1".
9. Cuff, Dana. (2000). "The provisional city: Los Angeles stories of architecture and urbanism". MIT.
10. (2003). "An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles". Gibbs Smith Publishers.
11. (January 21, 2000). "Toxic Cleanup Set at Housing Project". [[Los Angeles Times]].
12. Parson, Donald Craig. (2005). "Making a better world: public housing, the Red Scare, and the direction of modern Los Angeles". University of Minnesota Press.
13. (16 March 1943). "Homes Opened for Workers". Los Angeles Times.
14. (19 January 2000). "Home, Sweet Dump". [[LA Weekly]].
15. Treviño, Joseph. (13 February 2002). "Project Turmoil". [[LA Weekly]].
16. Stewart, Jocelyn Y.. (May 31, 2003). "Los Angeles; Housing Project Site's History of Oil Storage Still Haunts City; L.A. sues firm to offset the cleanup costs for tainted land a predecessor owned". [[Los Angeles Times]].
17. (December 14, 1995). "Central Los Angeles; Soil Near Homes to Be Tested for Oil Waste". [[Los Angeles Times]].
18. Yokoi, Iris. (November 8, 1992). "Optimistic Mead Residents to Celebrate". [[Los Angeles Times]].
19. (12 August 2010). "HACLA Presentation".
20. (23 September 1999). "ANALYSIS: JOBS PLUS IS A EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE ON WELFARE FIND JOBS AND HELP THEM TO GET OUT OF POVERTY". NPR.
21. Meyer, Josh. (April 11, 1997). "L.A. Joins Push for Jobs for Public Housing Residents; Aid: Program is called critical to helping families stay in their homes as welfare overhaul raises threat of eviction.;". [[Los Angeles Times]].