Letters to the Editor: Angelenos know the signs of gentrification. How do we actually stop it?

To the editor: I enjoyed your article on how to spot early signs of gentrification in your neighborhood. There are some very clear additional clues that you didn’t mention.

Here in the late, great Venice neighborhood, we now have happy hour drinks going for $16 and new neighbors who don’t seem to know where their kitchen is, because they have two meals a day delivered to them. They hire people to do their gardening, sidewalk sweeping, laundry, housecleaning, car washing, child care, window washing and dog walking.

Even worse, the gentrifiers are electing neighborhood council members who cater solely to the needs of the new rich residents and the boutique businesses that serve them.

Now, can you do a column on how to stop gentrification?

Jack L. Schwartz, Venice

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To the editor: Many of us could have given you a list of the signs of gentrification years ago, even before the first “gentrification fence” with horizontal slats went up on my Leimert Park street.

Meanwhile, amid all the trendy architectural upgrades, long-term residents struggle to get electrical, plumbing and structural repairs as well as internet access, which are essential to making our homes safe, particularly as we seek to age in place.

For these residents, many of whom have already endured racially restrictive real estate covenants and redlining, gentrification is just the latest threat to homeownership.

Moreover, the racial dynamic cannot be ignored, as Black and brown neighborhoods were repeatedly the target of inequitable business practices and government policies. The result is a vicious cycle as those who want to stay can rarely afford repairs, yet if they sell, they get low-ball offers because their homes “need work.”

When residents are unwillingly displaced, their health is negatively impacted, as is their ability to get to jobs and to be close to friends, family and cultural connections.

We need more than early warning signs of displacement; we need to assist those who want to remain in their homes.

Mary Lee, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I couldn’t help but detect smugness in the article, as if restoration, cleanliness, security and the dreaded art gallery with Neutra letters are now somehow evil aspirations.

Growing up the San Gabriel Valley, I saw once beautiful and livable Pasadena devolve into blight, only to later turn into a thriving, beautiful, safe and, yes, rehabilitated example of gentrification.

Just look at other deteriorating urban centers that are begging to be gentrified.

Mark Algorri, Pasadena