Los Angeles Lacks Plan to Address Affordable Housing

First, Alice Walton reports for KPCC that the city's political leadership has been too focused on a fight over the citywide minimum wage to devote much attention to affordable housing. For example, "For more than a decade, housing advocates relied on Los Angeles' Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help build low-income housing….The fund, which was created in 2000, has been decimated, dropping from $108 million in 2008 to an estimated $19 million this year, according to the city Housing Department."  Add that to the death of redevelopment in California and a Mayor's Office that has been silent on the issue to reasons why Los Angeles does not appear to be making any progress on one of the worst affordability problems in the country.

The second media coverage relating to affordability in recent weeks comes for the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board. There the board also argues that raising the minimum wage will not address the fundamental affordability challenge underlying the Los Angeles economy: "But raising the minimum wage alone won't solve the problems facing low-income workers in Los Angeles. At the heart of the city's affordability crisis is the double-whammy of low-wages and high costs — and at the heart of the cost problem is the exorbitant expense of housing."