Things to read from the past week:
- Op-Ed: How remote working in the post-COVID-19 era could transform L.A. and other cities: "What will Los Angeles and other cities look like when so many more people work from home? Will offices become a thing of the past? Will urban centers be hollowed out? Predictions about the death of the office are premature, but a mass move toward remote work could transform American cities and affect housing prices, traffic and commute times, and where people choose to live." (LA Times)
- Santa Monica politics upended by pandemic, George Floyd protests and economic woes: "And the new council members’ slow growth mantra will be put to the test as they try to put the brakes on commercial development yet fulfill a campaign promise of creating more affordable housing in a city where 72% of residents are renters and real estate prices are sky high." (LA Times)
- LA increases homeless camp cleanups. CDC says unhoused people should stay in place: "City officials say that growing encampments pose serious health risks besides COVID-19 to people within and outside them. Officials say the cleanups, which include outreach workers and mobile showers, are meant to provide services to unhoused people rather than punishment....Homeless advocates and at least one LA City Councilmember say that the services offered during these cleanings are inconsistent, and the net effect is moving already vulnerable people from one place to another." (KCRW)
- Architecture Firm Jerde Has Designs on Continued Growth: " While the global pandemic is battering many companies, downtown-based architecture firm Jerde Partnership is seeing an increase in activity." (LA Business Journal)
- A Farewell To El Gran Burrito, East Hollywood's Perfect Late-Night Pit-Stop: The restaurant at Vermont/Santa Monica Station is being razed to make way for a new affordable housing development. (LAist)
- CitizenM builds hotels with Lego-like modules. One is about to open in L.A. amid COVID: The Dutch hotel chain is also planning a 14-story development near Hollywood & Vine (LA Times)
- How Racism Ruined Black Santa Monica: "At its peak, Black residents made up approximately 25% of Santa Monica's population. Today, they make up around 4%. However, their roots run deep. Families still come from all over the Southland to attend services at Phillips Chapel." (LAist)
- Activists wield bolt cutters in a tense L.A. neighborhood as poor families seize empty homes: "The story of how the state transportation agency came to own over 400 properties — including more than 80 now-vacant single-family homes — is decades old and newly urgent. Caltrans began acquiring the properties in El Sereno, Pasadena and South Pasadena in the 1960s as part of efforts to expand the 710 Freeway, but protests and lawsuits delayed the project and it was officially killed two years ago." (LA Times)
- Slate Property, Atalaya Capital Joint Venture Provides $30M Loan for LA’s Cecil Hotel: "The L.A. hotel market has not escaped the tumult [of the COVID-19 pandemic], most notably, with the closure of the Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel in Beverly Hills. But, Southern California is expected to see the first signs of a recovery, thanks to its advantage as a destination for people around the world." (Commercial Observer)
- Caltrans Statement on Equity: What Does it Mean?: "Caltrans makes a promise, and communities and advocates will need to hold them accountable to it. It won't be easy." (Streetsblog LA)
