New All-Affordable Zone Proposed for L.A.’s Skid Row

A Los Angeles Times editorial argues that Skid Row’s future should learn from the mistakes of the past.

2 minute read

February 16, 2023, 12:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Los Angeles

Stephen zeigler / Wikimedia Commons

There’s a wrinkle included in the proposed community plan for Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA 2040) that has provoked concern from observers, including an editorial from the Los Angeles Times.

The wrinkle in question is a zoning district in the city’s Skid Row that would only allow affordable housing development. The blocks between between 5th and 7th streets and San Pedro Street and Central Avenue would be zoned as IX1, a new zone allowing for “mixed industrial use.” According to the Los Angeles Time Editorial Board, the new zone will create “the first area of the city with new housing reserved for residents defined as acutely low income (homeless or almost) to moderately low income.”

As noted in the editorial, however, the state of Skid Row in 2023 is a result of a 1970s approach to homelessness that concentrated services in this one section of the city near Downtown.

“In the 1970s the city adopted an official policy of ‘containment’ — concentrating cheap hotels, shelters and service agencies on skid row to both take care of residents and prevent them from setting up in other parts of downtown or the city. It was born of a desire by leaders to help and also to wipe their hands of the misery there,” explains the editorial.

Skeptics of the new zoning code point out the similarities between the new plan with the containment of previous decades. The editorial, however, calls for a new future for Skid Row—one that allows both affordable housing and market-rate housing.

The editorial, linked below, proposes a solution that would require higher portions of affordable housing, or a cap on market rate development in the area. “The goal in this particularly impoverished community is to make room for more housing and more investment to lift up the neighborhood. Making skid row more of a mixed-income community need not displace current residents or services, if done carefully,” according to the editorial.

Sunday, February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

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

April 30, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Ken Jennings stands in front of Snohomish County Community Transit bus.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series

The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

April 20, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Close-up of white panel at top of school bus with "100% electric" black text.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation

California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

April 30 - California Air Resources Board

Aerial view of Freeway Park cap park over I-5 interstate freeway in Seattle, Washington at night.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.

April 30 - Streetsblog USA

"No Thru Traffic - Open Streets Restaurants" sign in New York City during Covid-19 pandemic.

From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street

How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.

April 30 - Next City