After a string of high-profile successes in places as geographically distant as Philadelphia and the East Bay Area, an ugly episode in L.A. County the day before Thanksgiving dealt a brutal setback to the burgeoning right to housing movement.

"California Highway Patrol officers detained several people during a tense Thanksgiving eve standoff after activists occupied a number of empty El Sereno homes owned by Caltrans," reports Elina Shatkin.
Caltrans has long been a source of local consternation because of its ownership of the vacant properties—the state's department of transportation bought the houses six decades ago as part of an aborted plan to extend Interstate 710 to Interstate 210 to the north.
The seeds of this confrontation were planted in March, when a group called Reclaiming Our Homes moved homeless protestors into 11 of the 163 vacant homes owned by Caltrans in the shadow of the failed freeway project.
Because the properties are owned by the state, it was state police officers with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) that showed up the night before Thanksgiving. According to the article by Shatkin, the protestors did not have the support of many neighbors living nearby.
Despite the police action, which is documented in the article with photography by Brian Feinzimer, Reclaiming Our Homes had recently reached an agreement with the city of Los Angeles and Caltrans to move into some f the vacant homes legally, reports Shatkin.
The houses, which had previously been vacant, will be leased to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles for up to three years. During that time, people such as "reclaimer" Marta Escudero, who spent more than a year and a half couch-surfing before occupying one of the El Sereno properties with her two daughters, will be allowed to live in the homes while they look for a more permanent living situation.
Reclaiming Our Homes is part of a larger movement for homeless people to occupy vacant public properties that has gained steam and won political successes this year. In Philadelphia, the city announced plans to turn vacant homes over to a community land trust in October. In the East Bay Area, to founders of the Moms 4 Housing organization that took the same actions in vacant homes in Oakland, were elected to public office in November.
FULL STORY: CHP Removes Activists From Empty El Sereno Homes Owned By Caltrans

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie