David Wagner
covers housing in Southern California, a place where the lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness.
Published July 25, 2024 5:00 AM
A for-sale sign hangs outside a $1.6 million house on L.A.’s Westside.
(
David Wagner
/
LAist
)
Topline:
Almost three-quarters of L.A.’s residential land is zoned for single-family homes. And city officials have chosen to leave those neighborhoods largely untouched in their plans to meet ambitious state housing goals.
What’s happening now: L.A.’s Planning Department will hold a meeting to gather public feedback on a slate of proposals to incentivize new housing and increase zoning capacity by more than 250,000 homes. Those plans currently exclude single-family neighborhoods. Instead, new housing is being channeled into already dense, renter-heavy districts.
The feedback so far: Those in favor of preserving L.A.’s single-family neighborhoods say they support this strategy. Affordable housing developers, homeless service providers and tenant organizers see it differently. They argue that the city is continuing to let wealthy neighborhoods off the hook when it comes to doing their share in accepting new housing.
Read more… to find out how these decisions could affect the neighborhood you live in, and how you can get involved in the process.
Everywhere you look, there are signs of the housing crisis gripping Los Angeles. Young families are fleeing the city. Eviction filings are way up. Hardly anyone can afford to buy a home.
But when you take a closer look at most L.A. neighborhoods, housing advocates say you’ll find little in the way of change to address this crisis. Palm tree-lined streets with rows of detached houses appear pretty similar to how they looked decades ago.
That’s because almost three-quarters of the city’s residential land is zoned for single-family homes. And L.A. leaders have chosen to leave those neighborhoods largely untouched in their efforts to create more housing.
“It really does limit where we can build,” said Tara Barauskas, executive director at Community Corporation of Santa Monica, a nonprofit that focuses on developing affordable housing in higher-income neighborhoods on L.A.’s Westside.
“If there's this policy emphasis on really trying to make serious change for building more affordable housing, but these big blanket exclusions are still in place, it's a contradiction,” Barauskas said. “We're not going to be able to make the big shift we need.”
What’s happening now
On Thursday, L.A.’s Planning Department will hold a meeting to gather public feedback on a slate of proposals to significantly boost housing production in order to meet a state-mandated goal of planning for nearly 457,000 new homes by 2029.
The city’s current zoning can’t accommodate that much growth. So officials have outlined plans to increase capacity by more than 250,000 homes. Those plans exclude single-family zones. Instead, new housing is being channeled into already dense, renter-heavy districts.
A now-leasing sign hangs outside an apartment complex in L.A.’s Palms neighborhood.
(
David Wagner
/
LAist
)
Those in favor of preserving L.A.’s single-family neighborhoods say they support that strategy.
“I do think the city has taken a really good approach,” said Cindy Chvatal-Keane, co-founder of the neighborhood preservation advocacy group United Neighbors. “There are plenty of places to put affordable housing without disrupting single-family.”
Affordable housing developers, homeless service providers and tenant organizers see it differently. They argue that the city is continuing to let wealthy neighborhoods off the hook when it comes to doing their share in accepting new housing.
How we got here
It has become a familiar debate in Los Angeles. Last year, Mayor Karen Bass decided to carve out single-family neighborhoods from her signature program to streamline affordable housing approvals. Before that, city council members voted to oppose state legislation allowing additional units on single-family lots.
Renter households outnumber homeowner households in the city of L.A. nearly two-to-one. But housing policy analysts say homeowners tend to have more political capital, vote more consistently and put up more organized opposition to change.
“The city does have a lot of very wealthy people — people who are almost exclusively single-family homeowners,” said Shane Philips with the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. “Those people have disproportionate influence on policy making, and I think that especially applies to land use.”
An American flag waves in the wind outside a single-family home on L.A.’s Westside.
(
David Wagner
/
LAist
)
Proponents for more housing say zoning patterns help explain why so many L.A. apartments are overcrowded, why more than half of local tenants are paying rents considered unaffordable by federal standards, and why renters looking for a new place to live are finding so few options.
“We're all aware that there is a need for housing, because every time we step out we see a homeless person on the sidewalk,” said Diana Corrales, who was born and raised in L.A. and recently moved back in with her mother.
Corrales said she lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic and could no longer afford the one-bedroom Ladera Heights apartment where she was living with her son. When she started hunting for another place to rent, she realized the options were beyond her budget.
“Everyone's scared of change, but we understand that there's a need for housing,” Corrales said. “Not just for us, but for everyone of all income levels, all walks of life.”
What’s in the plan
According to officials with the L.A. Planning Department, the city will be able to meet its ambitious state goals by focusing on areas already zoned for dense housing. They say L.A. can get there by incentivizing development in those neighborhoods. The proposed incentives would let developers increase the density of their projects and remove certain parking requirements, as long as they reserve some apartments for low-income renters.
The department did not make an official available for an interview, but told LAist in an emailed statement that their approach “promotes housing near jobs and transit, along major corridors, and away from environmentally hazardous and sensitive areas such as fire zones and sea level rise areas.”
This strategy aligns with ongoing efforts to update community plans across the city, which have so far sought to locate lots of new housing in dense neighborhoods like Hollywood and downtown L.A.
Officials say their plans also include new tenant protections. Renters currently living in rent-controlled apartments would have the right to move into new developments if their housing is demolished to make way for a larger building, officials say. But tenant advocates worry low-income renters could still struggle to make the transition and continue living in L.A.
City planners also intend to make it easier for developers to convert old commercial buildings — like deserted malls and empty offices — into housing through adaptive reuse.
None of these plans include allowing new apartment buildings on the 72% of residential land in the city reserved for single-family homes, according to the planning department. A UC Berkeley study estimated these zones make up a slightly higher percentage of the city’s residential land, 74% to be precise.
A map created by UC Berkeley researchers shows the L.A. neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes, highlighted in pink.
(
Courtesy UC Berkeley Othering and Belonging Institute
)
Many of these protected neighborhoods are in wealthy areas that remain largely segregated due to historic policies such as redlining, racial covenants and exclusionary zoning, a fact that the planning department has acknowledged.
Planning officials had originally considered adding new density to these areas. Then last October, the department said they would exclude single-family zones following public feedback.
Why you should care
For anyone not already steeped in local land use debates, topics like zoning, state housing goals and developer incentives may lead to snooze-inducing boredom.
But these policies profoundly shape L.A. neighborhoods. They help explain why Koreatown is bustling with younger, lower-income renters from many ethnic backgrounds while nearby Hancock Park is occupied by older, wealthier and whiter homeowners.
Similar dynamics are at play in Palms, a Westside neighborhood full of multifamily apartment buildings, and adjacent Rancho Park, a single-family area with a quiet, suburban feel. While walking through these neighborhoods, Mahdi Manji with the Inner City Law Center told LAist it makes sense to build more housing in both.
“The Westside is an area of massive growth,” Manji said, pointing to the UCLA campus a few miles north and the nearby tech employment hub of Silicon Beach. “At the same time, we are only seeing development in those very small areas that are already doing multifamily.”
Mahdi Manji, director of public policy for the Inner City Law Center, stands at an intersection in L.A.’s Palms neighborhood.
(
David Wagner
/
LAist
)
Listen
0:56
Checking out Palms with Mahdi Manji
A tale of two neighborhoods
Under the city’s current plans, Manji said, long-term tenants in Palms could see their rent-controlled dingbat apartments torn down to make way for larger, modern complexes. But developers couldn’t buy a Rancho Park homeowner’s property to create a three-story apartment building within walking distance of the Metro E Line.
Standing near a modest Rancho Park house currently on the market for $1.6 million, Manji said, “We're not saying we should be building a skyscraper here. But it might make sense to have a 10-unit building… It's about who gets to live in a neighborhood, who has the opportunity, who has a choice to live where.”
Many existing residents strongly oppose such ideas. Barbara Broide — planning and land use chair of the Westside Neighborhood Council, which represents an area that encompasses Rancho Park — said apartment buildings don’t belong near single-family homes.
“I don’t think blanket up-zoning helps Los Angeles,” Broide said. “The opportunity to have a home and a yard and have a neighborhood where you know your neighbors — which is something we work very hard for in neighborhood councils and homeowner groups — is important.”
Many homeowners argue they’ve already accepted a lot of change. Under Senate Bill 9, which took effect in 2022, single-family homeowners can split their lots and create duplexes. Last year, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 4, a law allowing churches to build affordable housing on their own land — even in single-family zones.
Next to a new apartment complex, “Palms” is written on a utility box in the Westside neighborhood bearing that name.
(
David Wagner
/
LAist
)
What happens next
No decisions will be made during Thursday’s feedback session. Planning department officials say they’ll listen to public input, incorporate the feedback and then send refined proposals to the Planning Commission in late September.
Finally, the plans will need to go before the city council for a vote. In order to comply with state law, the city must finalize its rezoning plans by February 2025.
Homeless service providers are among those eager to speak during Thursday’s meeting. Many hope the planning department will reverse course on excluding single-family zones.
“We can get people off the streets,” said Katie Hill, deputy director of South L.A.-based service provider HOPICS. “What we have not addressed is what happens to them after that. And that really just comes down to: do we have housing that people can afford? And the answer is no — nowhere near enough.”
Representatives of Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and the U.S. Soccer hold up jerseys as they announce the four countries hosting the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2031 Bid Announcement.
(
Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images
/
Getty Images North America
)
Topline:
Four Los Angeles venues are among those submitted by U.S. Soccer Federation to host the 2031 Women's World Cup.
Which stadiums?: The four proposed stadiums include the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Exposition Park, Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which is also being used for the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup.
The backstory: The bid was put forward by the U.S. in conjunction with Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica. It includes 50 stadiums across the four countries.
What's next: Although it’ll be years before the final venues are selected, FIFA is expected to take up the vote to confirm the joint bid at their next congress scheduled for April 30 in Vancouver.
On Friday, FIFA released the bidbooks for the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
The U.S. Soccer Federation submitted a joint bid with Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica. It was the only bid that made the deadline.
If approved, several cities across the four countries would host the global football tournament.
Forty venues have in the U.S. have been proposed as potential sites for 2031 games, with some right here in southern California.
Football’s coming back?
Four Los Angeles stadiums are part of the bid.
Rose Bowl
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson
SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Show me the money
The bid projected that the 2031 tournament would bring in $4 billion in total revenue — four times more than $1 billion projected to be made from the upcoming 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Organizers expect to generate revenue from across six main sources including: ticket revenues, hospitality, concessions, fan festivals, broadcast, and marketing opportunities.
Ticket prices are projected to start at $35 for the opening rounds seats, and between $120 and $600 for later matches
Wait and see
FIFA is expected to formally confirm the bid at their next congress on April 30th in Vancouver.
The evaluation process will focus on, according to FIFA, “the event vision and key metrics, infrastructure, services, commercial considerations, and sustainability and human rights.”
The venues where games will be held won't be decided for at least a few more years.
Farmworkers work in a field outside of Fresno on June 16, 2025.
(
Larry Valenzuela
/
CalMatters/CatchLight Local
)
Topline:
The Wonderful Company suffered a setback on Tuesday in its bid to overturn a new farmworker unionization law when an appeals court tossed its lawsuit against state labor regulators.
Why it matters: The decision by a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno leaves in place a controversial new law backed by the United Farm Workers that was meant to boost organizing in a heavily immigrant workforce.
The backstory: The law allows farmworkers to signal their support for union representation using a signed card, bypassing the traditional in-person, secret-ballot election usually held on the employer’s property.
California ag giant the Wonderful Company suffered a setback on Tuesday in its bid to overturn a new farmworker unionization law when an appeals court tossed its lawsuit against state labor regulators.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno leaves in place a controversial new law backed by the United Farm Workers that was meant to boost organizing in a heavily immigrant workforce. The law allows farmworkers to signal their support for union representation using a signed card, bypassing the traditional in-person, secret-ballot election usually held on the employer’s property.
The Wonderful Company — owner of the Wonderful Pistachios brand and Fiji Water, Pom pomegranate juices and Halos oranges —filed suit against the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board last year trying to overturn the law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2023.
The suit, alleging the law is unconstitutional, came after the United Farm Workers filed a petition with enough signatures to represent 600-odd workers at the company’s grape nursery in Wasco.
In a contentious public dispute, the company accused union organizers of tricking workers into signing cards supporting unionization and provided over 100 employees’ signatures attesting to being deceived; in turn, the union accused the company of illegally intimidating workers into withdrawing their support. Regulators at the agricultural labor board filed charges against Wonderful after investigating the claims.
All of those allegations were being heard before the labor board last spring when Wonderful took the matter to court, arguing the new law deprived the company of due process. A Kern County judge initially halted the board proceedings, but the appeals court allowed them to continue last fall. After weeks of hearings this year, the labor board has yet to issue a decision on whether UFW can represent Wonderful employees.
In the meantime, the company has shuttered the Wasco nursery and donated it to UC Davis, making the question of an actual union at the worksite moot.
In the new ruling, the appeals court judges issued a sharp rebuke of the company for suing over the unionization instead of waiting for the labor board decision.
“Wonderful filed this petition notwithstanding approximately 50 years of unbroken precedent finding an employer may not directly challenge a union certification decision in court except in extraordinarily and exceedingly rare circumstances, which Wonderful does not meaningfully attempt to show are present here,” wrote Justice Rosendo Peña.
Elizabeth Strater, a United Farm Workers vice president, said the decision affirms that “every farm worker in California has rights under the law, and those rights need to be protected.”
But Wonderful Company General Counsel Craig Cooper dismissed the ruling as only a matter of timing: “the decision explicitly does not address the merits of Wonderful Nurseries’ constitutional challenge.”
After an Afghan national was named as being behind a shooting in Washington, D.C., that left one member of the National Guard dead and another in critical condition, the Trump administration says it is halting all asylum decisions.
Why now: Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said Friday night that the agency is pausing decisions "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible."
After an Afghan national was named as being behind a shooting in Washington, D.C., that left one member of the National Guard dead and another in critical condition, the Trump administration says it is halting all asylum decisions.
Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said Friday night that the agency is pausing decisions "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible."
"The safety of the American people always comes first," Edlow wrote on X.
The decision follows President Trump's promise of a sharp crackdown on immigration from countries he described as "third world."
Writing on social media on Thursday night, Trump railed against immigrants from impoverished nations, accusing them of being a burden on the nation's welfare system and "preying" on natural-born citizens.
"I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover," he wrote on Truth Social.
"Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation."
The Trump administration is already deporting some immigrants, either to their countries of origin or to third countries, many of which are paid to receive them. Venezuelans were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador, a number of migrants were sent to Eswatini and South Sudan, and Rwanda has agreed to accept deportees.
Edlow wrote on social media Thursday that he had been directed to conduct "a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern."
He did not say which countries this would entail, and the USCIS did not respond to an NPR request for comment. But a June White House proclamation placed a travel ban on 12 countries of concern.
A makeshift memorial of flowers and American flags stands outside the Farragut West Metro station on Nov. 28, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(
Andrew Leyden
/
Getty Images
)
These included many African nations suffering from conflict and terrorism such as Chad, Sudan and Somalia — as well as other countries, such as Afghanistan. Another 7 countries were slapped with partial restrictions.
In a statement to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security said it had already halted all immigration requests stemming from Afghanistan and was in the process of reviewing "all" asylum cases approved under former President Biden.
The department did not respond to an NPR request for comment.
History of anti-immigrant sentiment
The president's latest comments against immigration was sparked by the revelation that the alleged shooter was identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal — a 29-year-old Afghan national who had worked with the CIA to fight the Taliban in his native country and was admitted into the United States in 2021 as a result of his service. In a Thanksgiving Day call with servicemembers, Trump described the shooting as a terrorist attack and the shooter as a "savage monster."
He blamed the Biden administration for Lakanwal's entry to the United States and for a general failure of the immigration system.
"For the most part, we don't want 'em," he said, referring broadly to immigration seekers as gang members, mentally ill and previously incarcerated.
Trump ran both successful White House campaigns on a pledge to crack down on illegal immigration, targeting at various points migrants from countries including Mexico and Somalia.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday after the Thanksgiving call, Trump widened his attack to focus not just on the alleged shooter but to rail against immigration to the U.S. and immigrants in general.
When asked by a reporter about the fact that as a former CIA asset, Lakanwal had been vetted, Trump repeatedly berated the reporter as "stupid."
People detained earlier in the day are taken to a parking lot on the far north side of the city before being transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Oct. 31, 2025, in Chicago, Ill.
(
Jamie Kelter Davis
/
Getty Images
)
Asked by another reporter whether he blamed all Afghans for the alleged actions of one, Trump said: "No, but there's a lot of problems with Afghans."
Trump then turned his attention to immigrants from Somalia, who he has repeatedly accused of being gang-affiliated and "taking over"Minnesota — home to the nation's largest Somali community.
Questioned about what Somalis had to do with the D.C. shooting, Trump said: "Nothing." But, he added, "Somalians have caused a lot of trouble." .
Later on social media, he described "Somalian gangs" in Minnesota as "roving the streets looking for 'prey' as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone."
Officials for the United Nations on Friday criticized Trump's call for sweeping halts to immigration seekers.
"They are entitled to protection under international law, and that should be given due process," U.N. human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.
Alex Garcia and Elvia Huerta, the masterminds behind Evil Cooks. (Cesar Hernandez for LAist)
Topline:
Alex and Elvia Huerta of Evil Cooks have released the El Sereno Food Passport, a $10 booklet to promote local restaurants.
What is it: The first edition of the booklet features 18 local restaurants, each offering its own little perk when you visit and get your passport stamped.
Read on ... to find out where you can get the passport and support local eateries in the Eastside community.
Alex and Elvia Huerta of Evil Cooks have released the El Sereno Food Passport, a $10 booklet to promote local restaurants.
The first edition of the booklet features 18 local restaurants, each offering its own little perk when you visit and get your passport stamped. Customers can either get free snacks or drinks or get a discount.
At Tirzah’s Mexi-Terranean, you can either get 15% off your order or a free esquite when you show your passport.
Evil Cooks is so metal, they make black octopus tacos. They have also experimented with gansito tamales. This Halloween, they collaborated with Amiga Amore, a Mexitalian eatery, to create a special “witches menu” that included huitlacoche, aguachile negro and lamb shank in fig mole.
Get the passport
Pick up a passport:
Evil Cooks, 3333 N. Eastern Ave., Los Angeles
Lil East Coffee, 2734 N. Eastern Ave., Los Angeles
