Same old story of displacement

Re “Utopia a hard sell in Jordan Downs,” Aug. 22,

Having lived in Los Angeles for all of my years, this article brought back images of Chavez Ravine and Bunker Hill: promises of affordable, safe, low-income housing and the reality of the residents never coming home again.

This looks a lot like a twist on the same old L.A. story.

Historically, the middle-class families displace the lower-income residents who can no longer afford the gentrified housing.

How about following through on a promise, Los Angeles?

How about a Habitat for Humanity-type project in which the residents are trained to build, and then build their own housing and then, yes, actually live in it and maybe have an ownership opportunity?

How about excellent schools that might attract students from the neighborhood and from across the city (nothing like getting to know your neighbors)? Perhaps then the next generation will want to actually be neighbors.

Unless there are ways to provide opportunities for the current residents -- to give them a stake -- Jordan Downs will become gentrified and its current residents will be displaced.

Joanne Polvy Cohen

Sherman Oaks

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They want to throw another billion dollars into another failed housing project?

The featured artist from the article is a 37-year-old man who -- except for 13 years in prison -- has lived there his entire life.

You also write that some people pay as little as $100 a month in rent to live there.

The government shouldn’t be subsidizing housing for decades.

Los Angeles is an expensive place to live, and if you don’t have the education or skill-set to live here, perhaps you should move somewhere else rather than relying on the public dole.

I have no problem with helping those in need, but c’mon.

Hugh Rose

Newhall