Housing in the Pico-Fairfax Area

Re: “Homeowners Pass on Money to Save the Neighborhood” (Times, Sept. 7).

This article describes a serious problem facing our community today--bad urban planning. A good general plan should be well-thought-out and consistent. It balances the needs of neighborhoods with the needs of the city as a whole.

The Pico-Fairfax area has been zoned and master planned for multiple residential use for many years. There was little demand for that kind of development in this location until recently. With the continued growth of Los Angeles, new housing is sorely needed. Some of that need for moderate-priced housing, close to downtown and near good bus transportation and important roads (i.e. Santa Monica Freeway, Pico, Venice & Washington boulevards) can be met in this area, just as the community plan envisioned.

Without close-in housing, people will travel further and add to traffic congestion.

If our political leaders are sincere about effecting a better balance between jobs and housing in the Los Angeles region and encourage new moderate-income housing, master plans should not be so easily superseded by accommodating politics and, as your staff writer astutely reported, avaricious property owners.

BARRY BAKER, Los Angeles