'Housing That Works' Plan Announced

"Funded by a mixture of public sources-including the LA Housing Department, the LA Housing Authority, the LA Community Redevelopment Authority, Affordable Housing Trust Funds, and county, state, and federal funds-as well as private sector loans, the plan consists of broadly drawn proposals for an array of issues, from streamlining the city's entitlement and permitting processes, to providing housing for larger numbers of LA's homeless.

The plan includes a 'Sustainable Communities Initiative,' which will create 20 environmentally friendly neighborhoods near transit nodes. These mixed-use, multi-income developments are intended to link affordable housing for low- and middle-class workers with easier access to centers of employment.

Stuart Magruder, an architect and founder of the LA-based Studio Nova A, points out that the plan, reminiscent of the European model that locates people closer to where they work, shop, and go to school, is reliant on more effective transit systems than currently exists in Los Angeles. 'We've got to decide to go forward on all cylinders on both issues-developing denser communities and building more transit,' he said."