Under contract with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, Moye Wicks' syndicate spent $300,000 to dredge Port Ballona Harbor, for shipping to the Orient.

[3] Within three years, winter waves brought flooding, but what remained of man's early efforts became the Del Rey Lagoon, now a municipal public park.

[4] In 1902, buyers interested in land at the new Playa Del Rey development were instructed to travel by streetcar to Alla Station where “tally-hos” awaited them.

The new development eventually got its own streetcar stop on the Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey Line beginning from the Ivy Station.

[7] All of the houses in this area were custom built, many as beach homes owned by Hollywood actors and producers, including Cecil B. Demille, Charles Bickford, and others.

Between 1966 and 1975, the houses that were once there were either moved or demolished to facilitate the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and to address concerns about the noise of increasing jet plane traffic.

The City of Los Angeles condemned the southern section of Playa del Rey under the power of eminent domain and purchased all of the homes.

The construction of Marina Del Rey, which involved the hardening of the Ballona Creek mouth and the addition of a massive breakwater shielding the harbor from ocean storms, dramatically altered wave patterns in the area.

Compared to other nearby beaches, the areas immediately North and South of the Marina Breakwater are steeply sloped and waves tend to crash in very shallow water very close to shore.

[10] One danger for beachgoers is the uncontrolled water runoff from the creek, and the occasional emergency overflow from the giant Hyperion treatment plant to the south.

It is the only pedestrian crossing over Ballona Creek between the ocean and Centinela Avenue, and the Lincoln Boulevard and Marina Freeway bridges both lack sidewalks.

The park is bounded by Ballona Creek to the north, Convoy Street to the south, Pacific Avenue to the west, and Esplanade and an apartment complex to the east.

According to data from the Los Angeles Times's "Mapping L.A." project, the area's demography was 72.6% Non-Hispanic White, 7.7% Asian, 3.9% Black, 10.0% Latino and 5.8% of other backgrounds.

As of 2021, the median price for a single family home in the 90293 zip code has exceeded $3 million,[18] and the average income is $148,296, which is among the wealthiest in Los Angeles.