Newsletter: Essential California: The housing crises facing Mexico and California

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Monday, Nov. 27, and here’s what’s happening:

TOP STORIES

Mexico’s housing debacle

Sixteen years ago, Mexico embarked on a monumental campaign to elevate living standards for its working-class masses. The government teamed with private developers to launch the largest residential construction boom in Latin American history. The program has devolved into a slow-motion social and financial catastrophe, inflicting daily hardships and hazards on millions in troubled developments across the country, a Los Angeles Times investigation has found. Los Angeles Times (En español: Los Angeles Times)

Plus: Could your family live in 325 square feet? Life inside Mexico’s 1 million mini-casas, where conditions are so cramped that many use their cars as living rooms. Los Angeles Times

California’s new gold rush — and poorhouse

“Today, home ownership in California is the best investment any of us will ever make, thanks, in large part, to a scarcity of housing. The pace of construction has not kept up with population grown and demand, so those of us with houses own a staggering amount of equity wealth that grows even as those without homes pay a higher price for survival,” columnist Steve Lopez writes. Los Angeles Times

Wildfire’s aftermath

As wine country begins to imagine how a destructive fire changes a community, residents might look to some places in San Diego County. Harbison Canyon — ravaged by the 2003 Cedar fire — is an object lesson for the communities in Northern California destroyed by fire and struggling to rebuild while maintaining their old identities. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

A remarkable life: U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Harry Pregerson, the famed jurist who embraced the underdog and let his conscience inform his rulings, has died at age 94. Pregerson, born in Los Angeles on Oct. 13, 1923, was one of the most liberal federal appeals court judges in the nation. Los Angeles Times

Planning a tour: Always a good son-in-law, Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne promised to take his mother-in-law on an architecture tour of Los Angeles. But he got stuck on what to include. Los Angeles Times

On Inglewood: “Fifty years ago, Inglewood’s white residents saw black newcomers not as neighbors but invaders, existential threats to their property values and to an ironclad social order. They could not, would not, live where we lived. The fact that whites are coming back to this once very contested space is not, I fear, evidence of the meaningful integration that has long eluded us,” writes Erin Aubry Kaplan in an op-ed. Los Angeles Times

Living on fault lines: An earthquake fault could lead to closure of a Long Beach hospital. Press-Telegram

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

From the borderland: Ramiro Cordero is one of a substantial group of border agents — more than half of whom are Latino — whose family connections are in Mexico, whose professional loyalty is to the United States, whose history straddles both sides of the border. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

On the ballot: A San Francisco real estate developer is poised to spend enough of his own money to ask Californians to consider a sweeping 2018 ballot measure that could shift the balance of power over data sharing to consumers and punish businesses that don’t toe the line. Los Angeles Times

A changing city: A plan slowly moving through City Hall aims to get more people to live and work near the Expo Line by allowing denser commercial and residential buildings within a half-mile of its five stations that are between Culver City and Santa Monica. Los Angeles Times

Courting Amazon: In an attempt to get Amazon to build its second headquarters in Fresno, the city is offering “to funnel 85 percent of all taxes and fees generated by Amazon into a special fund.” One columnist finds that problematic. Seattle Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Fragmented system: Despite its size, Los Angeles has no centralized method for tracking sexual harassment complaints lodged against its workers. Nor are managers required to report such claims to the city’s Personnel Department. Los Angeles Times

Stolen: More than 100 handguns were taken from a storage facility in the Sylmar area, the Los Angeles Couty Sheriff’s Department said Saturday. Los Angeles Times

Sad story: A Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant whose son was recently killed by a drunk driver who also died in the crash spoke of forgiveness Saturday, saying both families were suffering. Los Angeles Times

THE ENVIRONMENT

Some crazy flies: Most flies will meet their maker if they go underwater, but not alkali flies, which are able to swim under the surface of Mono Lake. New York Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

What a milestone: Carol Burnett has a lot to laugh about as “The Carol Burnett Show” celebrates its 50th anniversary. Los Angeles Times

With a song: It sounds like something out of a Mel Brooks movie. Meet L.A.’s only atheist choir, which is questioning organized religion during its performances. LA Weekly

#DTLA: Learn about the amazing history of the Midnight Mission, downtown Los Angeles’ long-serving homeless shelter that’s grown to serve more than 1 million meals a year. Curbed LA

Chipping in: “Every Wednesday morning, Bevan Dufty, a former supervisor and current member of the BART board, and Supervisor Hillary Ronen pull on blue latex gloves and grab brooms and dustpans to clean the grossness that pervades the street-level plazas at BART’s 16th Street Mission Station.” San Francisco Chronicle

A shooting’s aftermath: After Nov. 14’s shooting rampage in Rancho Tehama Reserve, the question was an obvious one for Johnny and Tiffany Phommathep to ask each other. Should they move out from their home? Record-Searchlight

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: Partly cloudy, 72, Monday. Partly cloudy, 77, Tuesday. San Diego: Partly cloudy, 65, Monday. Partly cloudy, 72, Tuesday. San Francisco area: Sunny, 59, Monday. Partly cloudy, 59, Tuesday. Sacramento: Partly cloudy, 58, Monday. Partly cloudy, 59, Tuesday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

This week’s birthdays for those who made a mark in California: Angels manager Mike Scioscia (Nov. 27, 1958), former Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully (Nov. 29, 1927), Nobel chemistry laureate Yuan Lee (Nov. 29, 1936), UC President Janet Napolitano (Nov. 29, 1957) and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (Dec. 2, 1977).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.