Rising Rents and the Poor

* Re “Rising Rents Squeeze Area’s Working Poor,” Sept. 10.

Two issues are raised by this article that should be expanded on. The first is the plight of the tenants featured in the article. These tenants are being relocated to make way for another project. Presumably their units are being torn down or substantially remodeled. The city of Los Angeles has a relocation assistance ordinance that requires that families being displaced for these reasons be paid $5,000 in relocation assistance per family. They must also be given 120 days notice before they can be forced to move. This ordinance is intended to assist low-income families like the Leon-Bucios and their neighbors so that they can afford deposits and higher rents. We have requested information about the building affected and will assist these tenants in obtaining their legal rights.

The second is that not all parts of the city are equally affected by increasing rents. The greatest disparity between income and housing cost for the poor exists in the San Fernando Valley. The working poor--the fastest growing segment of the Valley’s population--are particularly disadvantaged. Sadly, the cost of buildings and land in the Valley makes it very difficult for nonprofits and others to build new, or rehabilitate existing, housing for the poor. Financing guidelines for city-funded projects--the only way we can provide this housing--do not take the difference in regional markets into account. As a result, housing dollars do not come to the Valley in anything approaching an appropriate ratio as compared to need to the housing investment being made in other parts of the city.

Los Angeles’ “one-size-fits-all” approach to housing finance needs to change in recognition of the fact that this city’s poor residents are no longer confined to areas in close proximity to downtown. Neither are the Valley’s poor confined to Pacoima. A regional approach to funding and a program allocation is necessary in light of the new demographics of poverty in Los Angeles to ensure that all impacted communities have the opportunity to access these public dollars and programs.

ELLEN MICHIEL

Executive Director, West Valley

Community Development Corp.

Canoga Park