Here's what we're reading this week:
L.A. has a new plan for creating more housing. An AIDS nonprofit wants it thrown out "Six weeks ago, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new strategy aimed at providing some measure of relief to local renters and home buyers by seeking to add nearly half a million new homes over the next eight years...The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit group with a history of fighting L.A. planning decisions, is now looking to torpedo the council’s action, saying city officials did not properly assess the environmental impacts of that strategy." (LA Times)
Editorial: Not again. AIDS nonprofit wants to block L.A.'s ambitious plan for desperately needed housing "The last thing L.A. needs is a lawsuit that could put progress on hold. This isn’t the first time the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has attempted to slow housing construction. In 2017, voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure backed and funded by the foundation that would have curtailed certain large developments." (LA Times)
SoCal Politicians Endorse Campaign To Overturn New State Housing Laws "At the start of 2022, new state laws took effect that could bring big changes to California suburbs in the form of more housing density. Now, local politicians want to see those laws overturned....The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) — a regional planning organization — voted Thursday to support a ballot initiative that aims to override state housing laws by giving local governments the final say over land use decisions." (LAist)
California continues to face wildfire risks. Insurers think they have an answer. "State leaders are pouring money into firefighting and clearing brush from drought-parched forests. They’ve allowed utilities to cut power on the riskiest days. But they’ve done little to discourage residents from living in extreme fire areas. And they’ve continued to allow development on the outskirts in a state desperate for housing." (Politico)
Even in a hot market, L.A. won’t allow rent hikes for most tenants until 2023 "The city’s rent stabilization rules generally apply only to apartments built before October 1978. Normally, landlords are allowed to raise rents on existing tenants by no more than 3% annually, depending on inflation....But the mayor’s emergency order changed that, marking the first time in more than four decades under the city’s current rent control laws that landlords have been blocked from any increases. Landlords remain able to charge whatever they want for apartments once a tenant vacates." (LA Times)
Wall Street Is Using Tech Firms Like Zillow to Eat Up Starter Homes "A business that’s touted as a convenience for home sellers has created a secret pipeline for big investors to buy properties, often in communities of color." (Bloomberg)
City to remove all historic lampposts off Glendale-Hyperion bridge following thefts "Thieves have been stealing the fluted lampposts off the bridge for several years now." (The Eastsider)
Reminder: Metro offering fare discounts as fare collection restarts on Metro buses on Monday, Jan. 10 (The Source)
