One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
LA Wants To Turn Caltrans Properties Into Affordable Housing
An activist decries the actions of CHP officers and Caltrans on Sheffield Ave. and Popular Blvd. in El Sereno on November 25, 2020. Officers removed families occupying Caltrans owned properties on that day.
(
Brian Feinzimer
/
LAist
)
The city of Los Angeles has announced a plan to turn some vacant Caltrans homes in El Sereno into affordable housing, three years after the state abandoned plans to expand the 710 freeway through the neighborhood.
The city wants to buy 77 parcels once Caltrans opens bidding, potentially as early next year. Most of the properties have boarded-up homes that the city wants to rehabilitate.
Councilmember Kevin de León, who is also a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, says there are also plans to build accessory dwelling units on many of the lots and some could become park space.
“Given the housing crisis right now throughout the state, but especially it's acute in Los Angeles, this is a really golden opportunity,” De León said. “It’s surely not the panacea to all the housing woes that we have in our region. But it is one step forward, especially with the whole saga and the drama of the 710 freeway.”
The homes have been vacant for years. Unhoused families moved into some of them about a year ago when activists argued that no one should be homeless when homes are sitting empty. CHP officers forcibly removed those families the night before Thanksgiving last year.
A new state law enables L.A. to purchase these lots for the original price that Caltrans paid for them. The city has set aside $2.5 million for this purpose.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
