The issues of housing and transportation are interconnected. We need to…
- Lower the cost of housing by building more housing.
- Build every kind of housing - single-family, multi-family, affordable and the missing middle.
- Build on active transportation corridors and commercial corridors, not by destroying existing neighborhoods.
- Build up our transportation system so Angelenos can live, work, shop and study without sitting in gridlocked traffic.
Family home ownership built the middle class of this country by allowing working people of modest means to own their own homes, and pass on their assets to the next generation.
For too long, many families were locked out of that opportunity. We need to expand that opportunity to more families, not limit it to a few.
For home owners and renters, the cost of housing is the greatest burden we carry. We cannot bring those costs down without building more homes: single family homes, multi-family homes, homes for all income levels.
That means developing our neighborhoods sensibly by building more housing where there is no housing, on commercial streets and public transportation routes. It also means creating more transportation options for the San Fernando Valley so people can live and work around our city without long commutes in soul-crushing traffic.
Right now our public transit system looks like a starfish. It needs to look like a web, with light rail lines running from the center, and more DASH buses connecting our neighborhoods.
In the wake of a disaster like the recent firestorm, corporate investors are quick to buy houses at prices far below market value and then rent them out, further driving up rents and putting the dream of home ownership out of reach for more families. I’ve proposed a ballot initiative to slow this corporate land grab here in L.A., but the State needs to act as well. The Council has adopted my resolution supporting action by the State of California to restrict corporate ownership of single-family homes.