The reduction of buildings here to tenements and the crowding from the influx of Cristero War refugees turned the area into Mexico City's first slum. By 1945, it was considered one of the worst places to live in Mexico. Houses here were not really houses but rooms varying between thirteen and twenty-five square meters grouped around common areas without sanitation facilities. These groups consisted of ten to fifty units and called "vecindades." Given the conditions and cheap rents, the area attracted delinquents, drunks and prostitutes. After World War II, the city froze rents, which was supposed to be temporary. However, the residents here have not permitted a repeal of their low rents, which have essentially remained unchanged since this time, despite attempts by landowners and government to do so.