Can’t Afford More Space : Crowded Families See No Way Out of Plight

Away from the politicking at City Hall, Juan, 34, sat on a bed--which doubles as the living room sofa--and pondered life with his wife and five sons in their small, crowded apartment in East Hollywood on his $200 weekly paycheck.

The family, illegal immigrants from El Salvador, has more beds (five) than chairs (three) in their one-bedroom apartment, which rents for $395 a month. The boys, ranging in age from 5 to 11, eat in shifts in the kitchen. The bathroom has had plumbing problems because of its constant use. There is virtually no privacy for Juan and his wife, Angela. Even the apartment building, built in the 1920s, has its problems, mostly with tattered roofing and walls and with vermin.

But he knows that the family, for now, must stay put. They can’t afford to move.

“Where else could I go?” he asked in Spanish. “I can’t afford anything else.”

Situation Is Typical

According to public-interest lawyers, the situation facing Juan and his family, who asked that their full names be withheld because they are in the United States illegally, is typical of thousands of people who live in similar conditions throughout Los Angeles.

Barely able to eke out a living, many low-wage earners--as many as 18 people, in some instances--live together in the same one-bedroom apartment.

“These people simply have no choice; there isn’t enough moderate- and low-income housing for them,” said Kim Savage, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, which opposed many of the provisions of the overcrowding ordinance, which limits the number of tenants according to the square footage of an apartment or rented home.

It requires that sleeping rooms must have at least 70 square feet of floor area for two persons and 50 more square feet for each additional person. Under that formula, no more than 10 people could live in a moderate-sized two-bedroom apartment.

Would Be in Violation

If Mayor Tom Bradley, as expected, signs it into law, Juan’s seven-member family will be in violation of the new ordinance when it takes effect on July 1.

And, at the moment, the family has no plans to move.

“I know what they are talking about at City Hall, but this is the only way we can live together,” he said, adding that it would be unthinkable to split up the family as a means of complying.

“My landlord knew, when I moved in, how many people were going to live here,” he said. “He never said anything to me about it. . . . “

Juan, who works as a janitor in the Mid-Wilshire area, came to the United States in 1979 to escape the escalating guerrilla warfare in El Salvador. Some of his wife’s relatives were targeted for death by right-wing death squads, he said.

Like Drifters’ Camp

After initially living in Lakewood, he said, he was able to save enough money to send for his wife and sons and move into the East Hollywood apartment, which has one 10-by-15-foot bedroom.

The home has the look of a makeshift camp for drifters.

During the day, one rollaway bed in the living room is tucked away behind some curtains. The only furniture in the bedroom--aside from three beds jammed into the room’s corners--is a dresser, which doubles as a place for a small portable color TV set.

A smoky scent of food hangs over the apartment during meals because there is no ventilation in the kitchen. Any cooking that lasts more than 10 minutes or so, Juan pointed out, would set off smoke detectors.

The apartment is similar to many in the East Hollywood area, which has absorbed a large influx of Latino immigrants in the last decade.