L.A. Councilmember Proposes Social Housing Model

Inspired by the success of Vienna, Austria, Los Angeles leaders are considering public housing as a faster, more effective way to curb the city’s homelessness crisis.

1 minute read

October 8, 2023, 11:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Multistory apartment building facade in Vienna, Austria with pink glass balconies.

Agata Kadar / Adobe Stock

Los Angeles city leaders are looking to Vienna, Austria as a model for creating more affordable housing, reports Kate Cagle for Spectrum News.

A resolution co-authored by Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez calls on the city to pursue a social housing model similar to Vienna’s, where 10,000 new public housing units are built each year. “Compare that to LA’s $1.2 billion homeless housing bond that aims to build the same number in a decade,” Cagle notes.

The article points out that Section 8 housing vouchers, the U.S. approach to providing housing, often fails to help the most disadvantaged residents as many landlords refuse to rent to voucher recipients, and eligible families remain on wait lists for years.

Monday, October 2, 2023 in Spectrum News 1

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