Who can afford this face-lift?

Regarding the story, “Neighborhood face-lift gives Hollywood pause,” (May 6):

What amazes me more than anything is the consistent lack of mention of a population’s ability to afford all of this development. Certainly a walkable neighborhood is desirable, but every development I have seen with those types of features requires you to make a healthy six-figure income to be able to reasonably afford it.

Yet that is the assumption being made to support all of these developments. How many luxury apartment complexes and condo communities can we really support? The current housing debacle demonstrates far fewer than developers would ever admit.

Jeff Magill,

Group Finance Manager

City National Bank,

Los Angeles