Survey: 59% of LA Residents Want Dense Housing in Their own Neighborhoods

In an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, UCLA professor Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld argues that, based on surveys UCLA has conducted since 2016, most Angelenos believe there should be more, denser housing — even in their own neighborhoods.

I expected to find that people supported housing but just not near them — the classic NIMBY dynamic. However, when it comes to more housing, Angelenos want everything, everywhere, all at once.

According to the 2023 survey, 86 percent of respondents want more housing built somewhere in the city. “More novel, however, is that clear majorities want apartments built where they live: 64% support apartments on streets that primarily have single-family houses, which means most streets in Los Angeles. A clear majority, 59%, said yes to apartments in their own neighborhood.”

These results held across city council districts. In 10 of 15 districts, 60 percent or more of respondents supported apartments on single-family streets.

For Steinert-Threlkeld, this points to an opportunity for city leaders to turn this into action, and a need to include survey data like this in decisionmaking. While public meetings are often dominated by the loudest voices — often of those with the most resources — surveys like this can illuminate the sentiments of the “silent majority” that wants more housing built across the city.