The issues of housing and transportation are interconnected. We need to…
- Lower the cost of housing by building more of 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 way 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. The Council has advanced my motion to place a proposition on the ballot imposing a prohibitive tax on a single entity owning an excessive number of single-family homes. We’re working to slow this corporate land grab here in L.A., but the State needs to act as well. The Council has advanced my resolution supporting action by the State of California to restrict corporate ownership of single-family homes. I’ll keep you posted on this and other issues as they develop.