Originally a wealthy neighborhood for the upper-middle-class, the Gardens fell into decline in the early 1960s, when numerous black and Hispanic families were relocated there in an attempt to integrate the area. White residents and business owners moved away, economically isolating the neighborhood. Then funding for low-income housing dried up, and the Gardens' new residents were effectively cut off by the City.
Today the Gardens is one of the City's poorest, most crime-ridden districts. Though it is often the target of optimistic "urban renewal" projects, such projects tend to be politically motivated, and funding usually disappears once elections are over.