Publications

Alternatives to our unhoused neighbors sleeping on the streets is within reach, spatially and financially feasible, and our collective responsibility. This includes City Council and the Department of City Planning addressing the root causes that continue to drive homelessness rates: housing scarcity, barriers to supply, and a fair share approach by every community. In 2020 Council District 11 counted close to 3,300 total homeless, a 40% increase from the previous year. Rather than continue down the path of housing scarcity at all income levels, neighborhood communities, their elected representatives in City Council, staff, and others, can and ought to contribute to a community based alternative to sleeping on the street. The Homeless Off Street Sanctuary initiative is one such alternative that identifies suitable government owned land Countywide, in a hub and satellite network arrangement, at a cost that is one tenth that which is currently being incurred.

The Mello Act sets requirements for the demolition, conversion and construction of housing in the Coastal Zone and applies to the Coastal Zone throughout the entire state of California. The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate what the impacts of changes to the Mello Act would be within the Coastal Zone in the City of Los Angeles.

Commercial use (along with residential, industrial, open space, and various other uses) is a major component of land use policy and zoning laws. Properties zoned for commercial use often include shopping malls, wholesale retail stores, offices, financial establishments, entertainment centers, and other similar businesses. Due to this, commercially zoned areas are of particular importance to better understanding local and regional economies. Whereas recommendations for the intensity and areas of commercial use in Los Angeles have been published elsewhere, this paper builds upon a growing body of academic and policy research that evidences growing opportunities in all neighborhoods for community economic development.

As Los Angeles continues to face a worsening housing scarcity and unaffordability crisis, we must determine and implement policies that will help our neighbors avoid homelessness by providing adequate shelter and housing both in the immediate as well as permanently. This study provides a comprehensive list of potential sites for off-street homeless shelters in Los Angeles as well as an inventory of precedents from various cities that should be considered by local policymakers in addressing homelessness in our communities.

Downzoning is the practice of reducing an area’s dwelling unit capacity, whether by forbidding or limiting multiple-family dwellings, or through restrictive regulations, such as increased parking requirements, larger minimum lot sizes and building setbacks.