Fri Mar 16, 2007
The cost and scarcity of housing has transcended the realm of problems and, by many accounts, reached the level of crisis in Los Angeles. To explore this issue--its manifestations, impacts, and solutions--the Westside Urban Forum presents a two-part series of breakfast events in February and March.
Part II, Innovative Solutions: New Ideas For (300,000) New Units
Cities and jurisdictions, in L.A. and elsewhere, have contemplated all manner of policies to promote affordable housing, ranging from inclusionary zoning to bonds to public housing to sheer paralysis. But the dominant lesson is that L.A.’s combination of growth, regulation, and construction costs render those efforts marginal at best. Recent estimates suggest that Los Angeles County needs nearly 300,000 new units to comfortably house everyone who wants to take root here, and the Westside Urban Forum is dedicated this month to discussing radical, innovative--and practical--ways for developers, activists, and policymakers to set supply and demand on a more reasonable balance.
In keeping with the magnitude of the challenge, this month’s event will open the discussion to a large, diverse group of panelists—from the fields including policy, planning, architecture, development, and more--who will discuss the widest possible range of ideas, from prefab housing to innovative financing to streamlining the planning process. Through this special event, WUF hopes to give a voice to ideas that do not always make it to the mainstream and to set an example for the larger discussion that must take place across the Westside and the entire region.
