Our Future Los Angeles

County of Los Angeles

Of the 3,007 counties in the county, LA has the worst housing affordability, overcrowding, and unsheltered homelessness, and the pandemic has only made this more acute. Rampant racial segregation and real estate speculation are pushing lower-income Black and Brown families out of their homes and communities at an alarming rate. Compounding these challenges are the recent failures of our housing market. From 2008-2018 the Metro LA Area lost 200,000 units that rented for less than $1,000/month and replaced them with 500,000+ units that rent for more than $1,500/month. In a region that is defined by low-wage service sector jobs, this is devastating. Through a painful mix of bad tax policies, exclusionary housing preferences, and short-sighted thinking we have collectively allowed our housing infrastructure to atrophy and teeter on the brink of collapse, while at the same time not investing the resources and services our Black and Brown communities deserve.

UWGLA is playing the role of fiscal sponsor and backbone for this new countywide coalition, Our Future Los Angeles, that focuses on building a countywide approach to our most pressing challenges: housing affordability, low incomes, and shameful wealth gaps. It consists of 50+ local organizations, including 22 who are working as a steering committee to coordinate action and advocacy that: 1 Helps people stay in their current homes: Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of losing their homes, with little notice or support. Our Future’s early priorities include fully funding a countywide right to counsel, support for renters at risk of losing their homes, and Ellis Act reform 2 Creates more affordable homes: We must allow the speedy construction of homes near mass transit and jobs, affordable to people at all income levels, without displacing existing renters or segregating our population. 3 Ensures every community is resource-rich: People should not have to leave their own communities to seek opportunity. We must address historic inequities to ensure that all neighborhoods have sufficient public and private investment. 4 Creates a single, independent, countywide housing solutions agency to fund and approve housing: It’s beyond time for the largest county in the nation to have a single, unified approach to housing, with the authority and funding necessary to meet our needs, especially for low-wage workers.

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative

We imagine a future where everyone has a safe, healthy and quality home–housing for all–in a strong and vibrant neighborhood of their choice; where everyone can succeed because we have dismantled the structures that create and perpetuate inequities; where everyone is safe because we have advanced new strategies that make homes affordable and create new pathways to home ownership; and where homelessness is unheard of because we have invested in proven solutions.

We will measure our success by the incremental goals connected to our four priorities as well as the growth of campaign constituents. Our goals include: -5,000 social media followers by August 2022 -2,500 email list subscribers by August 2022 -One major piece of legislation or policy passed by August 2022