Better Institutions

Measure S won't fix the affordable housing crisis. When the vote is over, win or lose, what can we do that will actually move the needle?

Bear with me; there are a lot of them.

In just the past three weeks, 1,300 homes for low-income residents and the formerly homeless were proposed in Los Angeles. Measure S would block them all.

At least 19,000 desperately-needed homes, including thousands of affordable units, could not be built if Measure S passes in the March 7th Los Angeles election.

Measure S is an ego trip masquerading as a social justice crusade. It's the Donald Trump of ballot initiatives, and these are 7 of the most important reasons that Los Angeles can't allow it to pass.

The city has put together an early draft of its proposal for the DTLA 2040 Community Plan update. It doesn't go far enough, and I think we can do better.

Analysis and recommendations for all 17 California ballot initiatives, along with some local ones in LA County, the City of Los Angeles, and Santa Monica.

Right now rent stabilization applies to multifamily housing built before 1979. Instead, we should consider a "rolling" threshold that includes all buildings over 30 years old.

Stabilized rents are not synonymous with affordable rents.

"The reason for the history lesson is: We paved over the orchards to make way for the Baby Boomers, and now the Boomers are fighting with Millennials who want to turn one-story strip malls into four-story apartments."

Forecasts rarely pan out, yet they're a foundation of the planning process. Instead, we should plan around something we can measure in real time: vacancy rates.

Along with its many other benefits, a non-profit acquisition-based affordable housing program could also increase tenant mobility.

Apartment tenants at risk of displacement have good reason to oppose new development. Instead of demonizing them, we should be helping them.

We share the same goals, but our focuses differ. Can we reconcile our differences and come together?

Opposing new development because it requires demolition of some rent-controlled units is shortsighted, and overlooks the many real affordability solutions available to us.

Using affordable housing funds to acquire existing buildings is less expensive and more sustainable than using them to subsidize new units, and would be accompanied by numerous other benefits to the housing market and low-income residents.

A little bit of behavioral economics might help us get more affordable housing out of the state's density bonus law.

Proposition U froze our commercial corridors in time and contributed to our affordability crisis. Repealing it may be the best thing we can do to heal the wounds of the past.

The Neighborhood Integrity Initiative is an ego trip masquerading as a social justice crusade. It's the Donald Trump of ballot initiatives, and these are 7 of the most important reasons that Los Angeles can't allow it to pass.

Eliminating homelessness is an expensive proposition, but we can pay for the great majority of it by simply redirecting money that's already being spent inefficiently on treating homeless individuals on the street.