Mobilizing For More Housing in L.A.

We all know that housing is becoming a crisis in the Los Angeles region. With the City of L.A. unable to pass a housing bond, there seems to be a sense of urgency to do something.

So an impressive coalition called “Housing LA” has formed. They are housing advocates, faith and business leaders, nonprofit developers and renters.

They brought 300 demonstrators to the City Hall a couple of weeks ago, specifically asking for:

1 – A fixed revenue source for the city’s Housing Trust Fund. The trust fund is supposed to be $100 million per year for affordable housing. But there is no specific revenue source (i.e., tax base, budget allocation, etc.), so every year there is a struggle to find these funds.

2 – Pass a city-wide mixed-income housing ordinance.

3 – Protect existing affordable housing from being demolished or replaced with market rate housing.

These are admirable goals. What’s more impressive is the coalition of so many different groups who all have a vision of an affordable city. Clearly, an affordable city is one way to help L.A. become a world-class city.

(Pic from aia.org)