During World War II, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) razed The Flats and built Aliso Village projects in their place.

With the river on one side and a massive rail yard on another, the construction of the East Los Angeles Interchange further isolated them from the rest of the city, and the closure of the Pacific Electric Railway dramatically reduced the mobility of many of the projects' residents.

By the 1970s, overcrowding had eliminated much of Aliso Village's once-vaunted green spaces, physical deterioration had become rampant, and gangs were an increasing problem.

By the late eighties the residents of the two housing projects had developed a network of community groups that pushed for better services and began negotiating truces between the different gangs, thus reducing the level of violence.

In 2000 Aliso Village was demolished and replaced with the New Urbanist, Pueblo del Sol "workforce housing" project.