Living in the City of Angels

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Living in the City of Angels

Anderson, Dana

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10429/2153

Date: 2021-04-28

Abstract:

The cost of living in California exceeds many peoples budget in the urban areas. San Francisco and Los Angeles are two of the most expensive cities in the U.S. The average rent in Los Angeles if up 32% since 2000, while renter’s income is on the decline. There are over half a million low-income renters in need of affordable housing. Affordable housing is defined by HUD as housing in which the occupants spend no more than 30% of their gross income for rent and utilities. This thesis dives into the housing crisis in Los Angeles as well as the government subsidies available for affordable housing. The thesis will also look at case studies and better grasp what it takes to design high-quality and long-lasting affordable housing.

Description:

Many people in the city of Los Angeles struggle with the burden of the cost of living. Many people spend most of their income on rent and utilities and leave little to no money for other things. Housing is considered “affordable” if the rent and utilities cost no more than 30% of the monthly income. Low-income housing allows for rent and utilities to cost no more than 50-60% of the monthly income. What few affordable housing units there are, many are disappearing everyday. There are 10,000 units due to expire and turn to market rate value by the end of 2023. The need for more affordable housing is extremely high and something needs to be done. According to LA Curbed, in order for LA to meet the demand of affordable housing units, 516,946 units need to be built. The median rent is up, while the median renters income is down. This makes making means meet even harder for renters. I intend on exploring why so many units are expiring. I will be looking into the different financing programs offered for affordable housing. I want to explore where the massive amount of money given for the LA Housing Crisis is going. I want to explore what housing units have been successful and what ones have not and why. In the end there will be some sort of building or buildings to help the need for affordable housing units. The goal for my development will be , ‘well designed, cost effective affordable housing with a high quality of living that is comparable to market rate living. The challenge is going to be finding a site within LA for the design. LA is a very dense area so the likelihood of finding land within the city will be challanging. Once finding a site, it is going to be important to utilize the site in its entirety and achieving my goal of having the affordable housing not look like the typical affordable affordable housing, which usually looks poorly.

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