Opinion: Who gets to live in L.A? A bold plan to create affordable housing has a serious flaw
1 year, 4 months ago

Opinion: Who gets to live in L.A? A bold plan to create affordable housing has a serious flaw

LA Times  

Last December, Mayor Karen Bass moved to speed up the production of affordable housing in Los Angeles by issuing Executive Directive 1. In her effort to permanently streamline the construction of affordable housing, Mayor Bass is asking the city to weigh in on a bigger question: Who gets to live in Los Angeles? This change came after the city planning department heard “feedback” from residents it surveyed as well as members of the City Council concerned about apartment buildings “ plunked down in the middle of single family neighborhoods.” This exemption prevents the city from streamlining the construction of affordable housing in these “ higher-resource areas ” with the least density. If L.A.’s wealthy neighborhoods are preserved at the expense of low-income ones, we will all feel the consequences: rising rents as the number of rent-stabilized units continues to shrink; an increase in homelessness, especially for seniors and renters on fixed incomes who have no other housing options available; less diversity in Los Angeles as residents in the affected neighborhoods, which are predominantly Black and brown, scatter outside the city to afford rent; and more traffic as families have to relocate farther from their schools and jobs.

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History of this topic

Affordable housing in the San Fernando Valley advances despite opposition from Bass, City Council
1 month, 1 week ago

Affordable housing in the San Fernando Valley advances despite opposition from Bass, City Council

LA Times  

By summer 2023, developers had pitched building nearly 2,400 new apartments for low- and moderate-income residents in the San Fernando Valley, where little such housing exists compared with much of Los Angeles. “I feel like Los Angeles is a city where politicians are encouraged to run to stop things from happening, where stopping projects and stopping growth is prized as …

L.A. City Council votes to boost housing development, while leaving out single-family-home zones
3 months, 3 weeks ago

L.A. City Council votes to boost housing development, while leaving out single-family-home zones

LA Times  

An apartment building under construction in the Palms neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2020. The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to boost housing development in existing high-density residential neighborhoods and along commercial corridors, while leaving single-family zones largely untouched. Last month, a city council committee approved a plan that allowed for more building in existing high-density residential neighborhoods …

Los Angeles’ $22-billion homelessness problem gives leaders a choice: Double down or change strategies
5 months, 2 weeks ago

Los Angeles’ $22-billion homelessness problem gives leaders a choice: Double down or change strategies

LA Times  

City of Los Angeles officials are finally confronting a question that has seemed too big to answer: How much would it actually cost to get every person living on the street today indoors and make sure that no one languished there for years again? “In other ways, it doesn’t seem that eye-popping to me for the scale of the problem.” …

Letters to the Editor: Are L.A.’s single-family neighborhoods worth protecting?
5 months, 4 weeks ago

Letters to the Editor: Are L.A.’s single-family neighborhoods worth protecting?

LA Times  

To the editor: I am a never-homeowner living in an apartment building on a street full of apartment buildings. As a native of Los Angeles, I have countless Latino and Black friends raised in dense environments who have worked hard to to move to single-family neighborhoods. Most recently, the Los Angeles Planning Commission voted to exempt single-family neighborhoods from the …

Editorial: A test for Mayor Bass’ Planning Commission — support affordable housing or preserve single-family zoning?
6 months ago

Editorial: A test for Mayor Bass’ Planning Commission — support affordable housing or preserve single-family zoning?

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Planning Commission on Thursday will make one of its most consequential decisions in years. And we hope Mayor Karen Bass’ appointees on the commission agree and back a proposal to allow apartments and townhomes to be built on single-family zoned properties near public transportation stops and major streets in affluent areas, such as Ventura Boulevard and Wilshire …

Faced with community complaints, Mayor Karen Bass retools her affordable housing strategy
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Faced with community complaints, Mayor Karen Bass retools her affordable housing strategy

LA Times  

During her State of the City address in April, Mayor Karen Bass touted her ED1 initiative, which has accelerated the approval of affordable housing. When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass launched her reelection bid this week, she made sure to highlight her success in speeding up the approval of new affordable housing. “The chipping away of the program shows that …

Affordable housing at the expense of existing tenants? L.A. council seeks new protections
10 months, 4 weeks ago

Affordable housing at the expense of existing tenants? L.A. council seeks new protections

LA Times  

Eagle Rock resident Sally Juarez has a rental home that many in L.A. can only dream of. “Because we have a serious eviction-to-homelessness pipeline.” The new regulations, which must be drafted and come back for another council vote, would buy the city time to develop rules requiring that 100% affordable housing projects provide at least some units for families that …

Bass budget would reduce homelessness funding, scale back LAPD hiring goal
11 months, 1 week ago

Bass budget would reduce homelessness funding, scale back LAPD hiring goal

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivered her second State of the City Address at City Hall last week. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass proposed a $12.8 billion budget on Monday that would reduce spending on homelessness initiatives, scale back an effort to hire more police officers and eliminate more than 2,100 vacant positions. The mayor’s team said her proposed budget …

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?
11 months, 1 week ago

Mayor Bass’ ambitious housing program calls on L.A.’s wealthy. Can she pull it off?

LA Times  

Philanthropic and real estate leaders reacted with hope and skepticism to the initiative, LA4LA, which Mayor Karen Bass unveiled Monday during her State of the City address. “People are a little less cynical, because she has shown that things can be done,” said Bojarsky, pointing to Bass’ executive order speeding up affordable housing construction and other programs led by her …

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Mayor Karen Bass urges L.A.’s wealthy to fund homeless housing

LA Times  

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass delivers her second State of the City address at City Hall on Monday. “And now we must prevail on the humanity and generosity of the private sector.” The pitch comes as Bass is working to break a logjam that has limited the city’s ability to move homeless Angelenos out of interim housing, such as hotel and …

Opinion: Why is L.A. still letting single-family homeowners block solutions to the housing crisis?
1 year, 1 month ago

Opinion: Why is L.A. still letting single-family homeowners block solutions to the housing crisis?

LA Times  

Last month YIMBY Law, a nonprofit, pro-housing advocacy group, sued the City of Los Angeles on behalf of a private developer seeking to construct a 360-unit apartment building in Canoga Park. Last year, the mayor’s office amended ED1 to shield single-family zones from streamlined development — after eight such applications, including the Canoga Park proposal, were already submitted. Bass announced …

L.A. is fast-tracking affordable housing. Some say those projects are pushing them out
1 year, 3 months ago

L.A. is fast-tracking affordable housing. Some say those projects are pushing them out

LA Times  

Blanca Ruiz, 75, lives in a two-bedroom home that is slated to be razed and replaced by a 157-unit affordable housing complex. Ruiz is among the scores of residents who are having to relocate in the wake of Executive Directive 1, Mayor Karen Bass’ initiative to speed up the construction of affordable housing. Her apartment, along with two others nearby, …

Editorial: Mayor Bass kickstarted more affordable housing in L.A. by cutting red tape. Now the council should make it the law
1 year, 3 months ago

Editorial: Mayor Bass kickstarted more affordable housing in L.A. by cutting red tape. Now the council should make it the law

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass signs an ordinance intended to accelerate the building of affordable housing by eliminating the site plan review process for those projects at L.A. City Hall. In the city of Los Angeles, where affordable housing is desperately needed and the process of building it is notoriously slow, Mayor Karen Bass came into office last December determined to speed …

L.A.’s mayor declared a homeless emergency. A new lawsuit says it should be repealed
1 year, 6 months ago

L.A.’s mayor declared a homeless emergency. A new lawsuit says it should be repealed

LA Times  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass appears with Councilmember Traci Park in January at a community reception where attendees thanked them for their work on homelessness. A Westside-based nonprofit group filed a lawsuit Monday that seeks to strike down Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration of a local emergency on homelessness and housing, calling it a “vast and illegal expansion of …

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass scores a U.S. policy shift to expedite homeless housing
1 year, 7 months ago

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass scores a U.S. policy shift to expedite homeless housing

LA Times  

Los Angeles officials are celebrating the demise of one of their biggest obstacles to getting homeless people into permanent housing: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements that keep applicants waiting for months while their assigned apartments remain vacant. “This addresses major roadblocks to moving Angelenos from interim housing in motels to permanent housing, putting housing first and bureaucracy …

L.A. strongly approves of Mayor Bass but skeptical about fixing homelessness, poll shows
2 years ago

L.A. strongly approves of Mayor Bass but skeptical about fixing homelessness, poll shows

LA Times  

On the eve of her 100th day in office, Mayor Karen Bass enjoys strong approval ratings among Angelenos — a reservoir of goodwill that will be crucial for the new mayor during uphill battles ahead. Half of Angelenos approve of the job Bass is doing so far, while just 14% say they disapprove, according to a Suffolk University/Los Angeles Times …

Mayor Bass orders list of vacant city properties where homeless housing could be built
2 years, 1 month ago

Mayor Bass orders list of vacant city properties where homeless housing could be built

LA Times  

Mayor Karen Bass walks with Kevin Murray, center, president and chief executive of the Weingart Center Assn., and Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, as they tour the Hilda L. Solis Care First Village. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered city officials on Friday to prepare a list of the city’s surplus and unused properties …

Op-Ed: How do we keep L.A.’s housing costs affordable? Build more homes
2 years, 3 months ago

Op-Ed: How do we keep L.A.’s housing costs affordable? Build more homes

LA Times  

Southern California has several housing crises. Let’s hope that Bass will provide more specifics about how she intends to address the long-term problems with our housing and land-use policies that continue to make rents — and thus homelessness — rise. Unfortunately, what many residents know best about the supportive housing built or in production through Proposition HHH is that it …

L.A. County supervisors pledge support for Bass’ state of emergency on homelessness
2 years, 3 months ago

L.A. County supervisors pledge support for Bass’ state of emergency on homelessness

LA Times  

Leaders from both the county and city of Los Angeles — two bureaucracies with massive roles to play in fixing the region’s worsening homelessness crisis — promised Tuesday to press reset on their fractured relationship. The olive branch came during a Board of Supervisors meeting in which county leaders voted unanimously to support Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ declaration of …

The Los Angeles mayor says the city will move unhoused people indoors
2 years, 3 months ago

The Los Angeles mayor says the city will move unhoused people indoors

NPR  

The Los Angeles mayor says the city will move unhoused people indoors Enlarge this image toggle caption Damian Dovarganes/AP Damian Dovarganes/AP Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she will be moving unhoused people into hotels and motels while the city builds more affordable housing, she said in an interview Sunday. Sponsor Message Bass said the initiative would not involve clearing …

Bass issues sweeping directive to fast track affordable housing projects
2 years, 3 months ago

Bass issues sweeping directive to fast track affordable housing projects

LA Times  

People walk past a homeless encampment on Spring Street, one block from the mayor’s office, on Monday, the day Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency over homelessness. Closing out her first workweek in office, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a sweeping directive Friday requiring city departments to rid their procedures of the bottlenecks that slow development of …

New LA mayor Bass declares homeless emergency as term begins
2 years, 3 months ago

New LA mayor Bass declares homeless emergency as term begins

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass began her first day in office Monday by declaring a state of emergency to grapple with the city’s out-of-control homeless crisis, bidding to move swiftly to get thousands of unhoused people off her city’s streets. Despite more than $1.2 billion in spending for homeless programs in the current city budget, there is …

L.A. voters approved more money to fight homelessness. Now they want to see results
2 years, 4 months ago

L.A. voters approved more money to fight homelessness. Now they want to see results

LA Times  

A generous but demanding electorate put Karen Bass in the mayor’s office with the tools they believe she needs to reduce homelessness. But more than 60% said they would support a recall if the new mayor “fails to effectively address homelessness within their first two years in office.” “What we’re hearing from Angelenos is we’re supporting the next leadership to …

Editorial: Stop stalling, legislators. Pass a bill to create an affordable housing agency in L.A. County
2 years, 7 months ago

Editorial: Stop stalling, legislators. Pass a bill to create an affordable housing agency in L.A. County

LA Times  

It’s a familiar lament: There is not enough affordable housing in Los Angeles. One glimmer of hope is an enterprising state bill, Senate Bill 679, which would create the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency to build and preserve affordable housing and offer struggling renters emergency rental assistance and access to legal counsel for disputes with landlords. Among the …

L.A. voters back a right to shelter, but are wary of taxes to pay for it, new poll finds
3 years, 3 months ago

L.A. voters back a right to shelter, but are wary of taxes to pay for it, new poll finds

LA Times  

Los Angeles County voters broadly support a legal right to shelter for all but offer tepid backing for new taxes that might pay for it, a new poll finds. The new poll, conducted by the Los Angeles Business Council Institute in cooperation with The Times, found that a significant majority of voters, 58%, said they believed the region can solve …

Editorial: Los Angeles will soon have a plan to start solving its housing crisis
3 years, 5 months ago

Editorial: Los Angeles will soon have a plan to start solving its housing crisis

LA Times  

It’s possible that 2021 will be the year that California begins to end the state’s housing crisis. The city’s proposed Housing Element is honest, ambitious and has the potential to make L.A. a more equitable and affordable city. As part of the Housing Element, the city must identify properties that could be developed for 455,000 new units of housing, including …

Editorial: L.A. can begin to solve its affordable housing crisis in 2021
4 years, 1 month ago

Editorial: L.A. can begin to solve its affordable housing crisis in 2021

LA Times  

Los Angeles leaders like to tout their progressive credentials, but when it comes to housing and land use, the city is stuck in the past — clinging to development patterns born out of racist housing policies from the last century that perpetuate segregation and inequality today. By October, L.A. has to complete a new Housing Element — a state-mandated plan …

Introducing your new place to keep up with California’s housing and homelessness crisis
5 years, 1 month ago

Introducing your new place to keep up with California’s housing and homelessness crisis

LA Times  

A homeless person stands with his belongings on the first night of this year’s L.A. County homeless count in North Hollywood. The Los Angeles Times is continuing its commitment to covering the state’s homelessness and affordable housing crisis with a new section on latimes.com that will bring together our best coverage. Therefore, last week, we also launched our first in …

A little-noticed zoning twist is set to spark a home-building boom in L.A.
5 years, 10 months ago

A little-noticed zoning twist is set to spark a home-building boom in L.A.

LA Times  

An apartment complex under construction on Sawtelle Boulevard in Los Angeles is being built under the city’s Transit Oriented Communities program. New units proposed near transit Since the Transit Oriented Communities, or TOC, program launched in September 2017, developers have proposed more than 12,000 units, including at least 2,300 homes kept affordable for lower-income households, according to city data through …

L.A. promised more housing for homeless people — but some neighborhoods are way behind
6 years ago

L.A. promised more housing for homeless people — but some neighborhoods are way behind

LA Times  

Jason Brackett, who calls himself a “garbologist,” is a homeless man living in Chatsworth who ekes out a living by gathering items to recycle. “They don’t want us here.” Despite the pledge that Los Angeles City Council members made one year ago Wednesday to support new housing with supportive services in each of their districts, zero units have been approved …

Op-Ed: L.A.’s land use rules were born out of racism and segregation. They’re not worth fighting for
6 years, 11 months ago

Op-Ed: L.A.’s land use rules were born out of racism and segregation. They’re not worth fighting for

LA Times  

Like many people in Los Angeles, I like detached houses. In Los Angeles, that would allow small-to-medium-sized apartment buildings to be built on approximately 190,000 single family-zoned lots where such development has been banned for decades. That change could simultaneously take Los Angeles back to the 1920s, when zoning was more flexible, and forward into the 2020s, by allowing the …

L.A. votes to fight state lawmaker’s push for high-density housing
7 years ago

L.A. votes to fight state lawmaker’s push for high-density housing

LA Times  

Senate Bill 827 would affect much of the city, in large part because it encourages four- to eight-story residential buildings near bus stops. Councilman Paul Koretz, who represents much of the Westside, called the bill “pure insanity.” And Councilman David Ryu, who wrote the resolution opposing the bill, said it would result in the widespread displacement of renters, generating “a …

Column: Everyone loves L.A. — and that’s the problem
7 years, 9 months ago

Column: Everyone loves L.A. — and that’s the problem

LA Times  

Another perfect day in L.A. -- and everyone wants to experience it. In the book, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metro area leads all other major hubs, including New York City, on what he calls the “urban crisis index.” More than 400,000 households in the city of Los Angeles, and a total of 900,000 in L.A. County, have what the …

Los Angeles votes: What kind of city do you want to live in?
8 years ago

Los Angeles votes: What kind of city do you want to live in?

LA Times  

Mayor Eric Garcetti, expected to win re-election, is opposed to the controversial Measure S ballot initiative. The No on Measure S campaign warned in an email Monday the “housing ban” caused by the ballot measure would hurt the city and cause economic damage. Across town, Measure S backers rallied near downtown’s La Placita Church, arguing the ballot measure would reform …

L.A. developers grapple with affordable-housing measure passed by a wide margin
8 years, 4 months ago

L.A. developers grapple with affordable-housing measure passed by a wide margin

LA Times  

An apartment project under construction in downtown Los Angeles this year. Measure JJJ, which passed with nearly 64% of the vote, requires developers to pay higher wages and build below-market rate units if they get exemptions from key planning rules — a common occurrence in Los Angeles, where the city’s zoning is considered outdated. Chief Executive Scott Laurie said his …

L.A. isn’t a suburb. We need to stop planning it like one.
8 years, 8 months ago

L.A. isn’t a suburb. We need to stop planning it like one.

LA Times  

Living in Los Angeles can be frustrating. Zoning is a 20th century relic designed to “protect” existing residents from the encroachment of people and buildings they see as “undesirable.” Think of the challenges L.A. is facing: rising homelessness and rents, hotter weather and severe drought from climate change, ongoing divides between wealthy and lower-income neighborhoods. Zoning is a 20th century …

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