Readers React: $1,200 for an apartment in Los Angeles? These readers don’t believe it

To the editor: Richard Sander’s and Taylor Gumm’s op-ed article pegging Los Angeles County’s median rent in 2016 at about $1,200 borders on fantasy.

As a volunteer counselor at Safe Place for Youth in 2016, I found that in trying to secure housing for homeless youth, a $1,200 apartment usually came in the form of a studio next to a freeway or in the shadows of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

A simple five-minute survey of online listing sites will give a much truer picture of rents, which start in the range of $2,000 for one-bedroom apartments and go up from there in multiple areas of L.A. County.

Marilyn Haese, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The op-ed article asserting that rents are not as high as we think is completely out of touch with reality in Los Angeles.

The writers’ opinion is based on a 2016 rent survey. My own rent, in the North Hollywood Arts District, has increased $225 since October 2016. Anyone involved in the Los Angeles rent market knows that the last two years have seen huge rent hikes.

It’s disheartening to see an article that states how important it is to have accurate data ignoring the facts of 2018, especially with rent control in the form of Proposition 10 on Tuesday’s ballot.

Hollis Traister, North Hollywood

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