Thursday, March 15, 2012

Gentrification, USC, and U.N.I.D.A.D. (Part 2) // Parallels to Downtown LA

Photos of the press conference on March 14 may be found here.
I wonder how the second night of the hearings went. It seems that the bulk of the mobilization was for last night. 

This was the first public hearing I've ever been to and I wonder what percentage of these hearings contain as many impassioned testimonies as I heard last night. The question of displacement and the need for affordable housing are issues that I engage with daily as a case manager in Skid Row. While the new shops and art certainly contribute to life in Downtown Los Angeles, the expansion of development seems to be missing one crucial factor: a focus on the rehabilitation of the people (and the system!) who previously occupied many of those streets. The development has steadily moved eastward, from Broadway, to Spring, to Main, and, now, to Los Angeles
Changes in the Baltomore are already in motion. 3/12/12
In the case of this most recent development, law-abiding folks who live in Baltimore, Leland, and King Edward hotels will be protected by a moratorium on market-rate conversions. What protections against displacement do the families living in the West Adams and Exposition Park areas have in the face of USC expansion? (This is a completely honest question to which I hope to find an answer.)

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