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A Personal Reflection Following Katie Horak's Presentation on
'Garden City' Apartments in Los Angeles, CA
A Personal Reflection Following Katie Horak's Presentation on
'Garden City' Apartments in Los Angeles, CA
By Tatiana Penton
I was five years old when I moved to “The Carmelitos.” Who knew it would be 22 years later until I heard that name again?
I was five years old when I moved to “The Carmelitos.” Who knew it would be 22 years later until I heard that name again?
My father has been in prison for as long as I remember. My mom, a single parent in her 20s, made the decision to move from my grandmother’s house in Pasadena, California, to be on her own. While my mother was in school to become a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), my mom couldn’t afford to move out independently, and my grandmother took care of me often in my earlier years. When it was time to move, I remember being nervous. My biggest concern as a child, closest to my grandmother, who will I be friends with now?
I remember pulling up to the Carmelitos Housing Complex, rounding the turn, and seeing the green grass, playground, and kids playing everywhere. Kids on their bikes, their scooters, kids playing tag. Can you imagine the frustration I felt when my mom said we had to go unpack? I remember so vividly, driving up to our new home, the shortage of kids did not stop in the parks in green spaces; they continued into the individual pocket communities.
After we settled, I realized what “The Carmelitos” offered us. I was able to play in the playground, able to play hide-and-seek within a vast amount of space, and able to be around kids who were just like me. There was always an adult looking out for us kids in the vicinity, so my mom felt safe with an occasional check-in. Our home was small but cozy and ours.
Garden City Apartments
Garden City Apartments
Katie E. Horak, a Principal and Architectural Historian at Architectural Resources Group, was a guest lecturer for our course. She spoke of Garden City Apartments in Los Angeles like Wyvernwood and “The Carmelitos”. The Los Angeles Conservancy hired Katie, a historic preservation advocacy group, to help with the “We Love Garden City Apartments” initiative. The initiative strives to provide a context into what makes these Garden City Apartments thrive, why they are worth preserving, and what policies and ideas produced this housing typology. She found that there are about 40 garden city apartments in the Los Angeles area, making it “the largest concentration of this property type anywhere.”
Built in the 1940s, “The Carmelitos” was one of the first fully-fledged garden city housing complexes to utilize public funding, federal housing initiatives, and other initiatives in providing housing for those of lower incomes and at higher densities. In her discussion, Katie called attention to the typology and social functions of these Garden City apartments. In the case of Wynverwood, when private developers sought to demolish this housing complex, it was met with heavy opposition. Citizens felt they were “not just losing their place of residence but the community they had there that could not be replicated in the developer’s plan”.
"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."
As I grew older, I learned about social housing complexes and the negative connotations associated with them. Although my experience was a great one, I felt somewhat ashamed to talk about it. I did not expect to hear about “The Carmelitos” again, but here Katie was, telling us how this development is actually a success story. As an Urban and Environmental Planning student and former garden city apartment dweller, it warms my heart to learn about social housing successes. The policies that shape and mapping of these successes will undoubtedly preserve these communities and for its citizens. And in concluding Katie’s presentation, I no longer felt shame but pride in my former community and through this class, I have been able to realize the benefits of affordable housing.
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