The backyard alleys of south Los Angeles were once hotbeds of criminal activity. Originally used for trash pickup and parking, the alleys were being used as drug drive-thrus and gang hangouts and fell into disrepair. The city of Los Angeles experimented with physical barriers to prevent drive-by shootings and drug pick-ups in the early 1990s. They also installed gates and physical barriers to keep cars – and crime – out of the alleys.
Now, residents of areas with blighted and condemned alleys complain that they're being used as illegal dumping sites and that the city, which has barred them from entering and controls the land, doesn't maintain them.