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Loukaitou-Sideris on Transit-Oriented Development and Displacement

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean of UCLA Luskin, appeared on the CitySCOPE podcast to discuss the benefits and unintended consequences of transit-oriented development. Denser development around transit hubs can help accommodate a city’s growth while meeting mobility and sustainability goals. Yet Loukaitou-Sideris’ research also shows that transforming these neighborhoods can have a negative impact on longtime residents. These risks “should be a red flag for planners and policymakers to be able to protect these neighborhoods from the risk of gentrification and displacement,” she said. Over two episodes of the podcast, Loukaitou-Sideris and research partner Karen Chapple of UC Berkeley shared findings from their book, “Transit Oriented Displacement or Community Dividends? Understanding the Effects of Smarter Growth on Communities.” They discussed topics including the heightened risk of displacement experienced by communities of color, the commercial and cultural gentrification that takes place when mom-and-pop stores lose their leases, and instances when grassroots local opposition has succeeded in holding back gentrifying forces.


 

Monkkonen on How Tech Companies May Cause Gentrification in Culver City

Paavo Monkkonen, professor of urban planning and public policy, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about Culver City residents who are fighting back against gentrification. As tech giants and streaming studios including Apple, Amazon, HBO and TikTok enter the city, neighborhood tensions flare as locals worry that they may be pushed out. “You have this kind of collective action problem where every small neighborhood or every municipality wants the jobs but not the new housing,” Monkkonen said. “So that pushes people out [with] farther commutes or gentrifying formerly lower-income neighborhoods nearby.” Culver City officials said they are attempting to address the housing issue by zoning for over 3,000 additional housing units by 2029 and enacting rent control ordinances like one from 2020 that caps annual rent increases to 5% for certain residential buildings.


 

Loukaitou-Sideris on Benefits, Consequences of New Rail Line

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, was cited in a Los Angeles Times article about how the construction of rail lines in South L.A. will serve as both a curse and a blessing to locals. While the railway system will benefit communities by de-isolating South L.A. from the rest of the city, it poses economic challenges as current residents find that increasing rent prices are driving them out of the well-established communities many grew up in. In her past studies, Loukaitou-Sideris found that census tracts closest to stations had the highest likelihood of gentrification. However, she is not opposed to the construction of the railway line. “It is not that we should not have transit stations. It is that we really need strategies for people to avoid displacement,” she said.


 

Loukaitou-Sideris on Gentrification Near Transit

Urban Planning Professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris was featured in a Smart Cities Dive article about the growth of transit-oriented development in cities across the country. As transit ridership has declined and housing costs increase, cities have looked to mixed-use projects near bus and rail stations. This type of transit-oriented development aims to provide more housing and retail while making it easier for people to take trips on public transportation instead of by car. However, Loukaitou-Sideris pointed out that such developments sometimes replace affordable housing with luxury units where residents don’t use transit. According to her research, neighborhoods with transit stations are more likely to be gentrified than neighborhoods without. “What we are arguing is not to stop transit-oriented development because it can bring along the positives, but finding ways through policy to protect existing residents of these neighborhoods from displacement,” Loukaitou-Sideris said. She suggested anti-displacement measures such as rent control and eviction assistance for tenants.


Loukaitou-Sideris on Signs of Gentrification in Inglewood

Urban Planning Professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris spoke to USA Today about signs of gentrification in Inglewood since the opening of SoFi Stadium, which will host this year’s Super Bowl. Rent and home prices have surged in recent years, and corporate chains are moving in to the primarily Black and Latino city. While some local business owners are cautiously optimistic the changes will be good for the city, some community activists fear that Inglewood’s culture and character are at stake. Loukaitou-Sideris weighed in on the long-term effects of gentrification. “When you start seeing a sociodemographic group slowly disappearing, when you start seeing mom-and-pop stores that you grew up with being replaced by, let’s say, Starbucks, that is another aspect of what is happening,” she said. “People may no longer look like you — there is no longer a traditional Black or Latino neighborhood — but also the goods, the services and the stores may be different.” 


 

Monkkonen Debunks Myths of High-Density Housing

Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy Paavo Monkkonen was featured in a Mel Magazine article about the stigmatization and gentrification of high-density public housing areas. For years, the Cabrini-Green low-income housing project in Chicago was associated with crime and violence. Today, the complex has been renovated into a modern-looking mix of both subsidized and market-rate dwellings, but the stigma around public housing persists. According to Monkkonen, “the stigma and belief that these large complexes are doomed to fail … is a distinctly American point of view.” He pointed out that in places like Hong Kong, France and Scandinavia, government-subsidized housing is more common and culturally accepted. “The common narrative around higher-density living and public housing, and why it became untenable, is a belief that residents didn’t take care of their home,” Monkkonen explained. “But the reason it fell apart was a totally different one. The products of the policies created poor conditions.”


Manville Examines Impact of Gentrification on Rent

Urban Planning Associate Professor Michael Manville was featured on KCRW’s “Greater L.A.” in an episode about the impact of housing supply on rent prices. “It’s important to separate this big question of gentrification with the question of what happens to rent,” Manville said. His research has shown that adding to the housing supply lowers nearby rent, but he explained that the trend is “not always easy to see because developers like to build in places where rents are already rising.” Considering neighborhoods where housing demand is already increasing, Manville asked, “Do you want newer residents moving in and displacing residents in the existing housing, or do you want them to be in brand-new housing where, while they will change the neighborhood by their presence, they don’t put as much pressure on the existing housing stock where a lot of the current people live?”


Luskin Summit Brainstorms Solutions for Housing Justice

Experts, scholars and activists convened to discuss successful housing strategies — and their potential application in the L.A. region — at the Luskin Summit webinar “Homes for All: Building Coalitions for Equitable Planning in Los Angeles County.” Culver City Vice Mayor Daniel Lee delivered the keynote address at the April 9 event, co-sponsored by UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and Ziman Center for Real Estate. Lee suggested that social housing is the key to addressing homelessness and the affordable housing crisis. Paavo Monkkonen, associate professor of urban planning and public policy, moderated a panel on the successes and challenges of housing initiatives in other areas. Berkeley City Council member Terry Taplin shared his personal experiences with homelessness and discussed efforts to end exclusionary zoning practices. Laura Loe, founder of Share the Cities, spoke about her work building housing coalitions in Seattle and the importance of building trust within communities. Alison McIntosh of the Oregon nonprofit Neighborhood Partnerships explained that, “while these problems are complex and thorny, they are solvable.” A second panel, moderated by Tommy Newman of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, focused on how Los Angeles might apply these strategies. Andy Cohen of the architecture and design firm Gensler pointed to COVID-19 as an “opportunity to reimagine the future of cities and prioritize the human experience,” while Joss Tillard-Gates of Enterprise Community Partners spoke about preserving supportive housing for homeless populations. Mahdi Manji of the Inner City Law Center discussed serving the lowest-income clients, and Leonora Camner of Abundant Housing LA stressed the importance of “moving at the speed of trust.” — Zoe Day


Luskin Summit Illuminates Pathway to Park Equity

A Landmark Opportunity for Park Equity,” the fourth webinar in the 2021 Luskin Summit series, focused on the importance of public parks and other outdoor spaces for the physical, mental and environmental well-being of communities. The Feb. 17 panel was moderated by Jon Christensen, an affiliate faculty member of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. Angela Barranco, undersecretary at the California Natural Resources Agency, explained that the “COVID-19 pandemic has elevated and revealed the importance of access to the outdoors for all.” She noted that 1 in 4 Californians has zero access to parks within walking distance, and 6 in 10 Californians live in park-poor neighborhoods. These inequities can lead to severe health consequences and in some cases could be the difference between life and death, she said. California voters have approved multiple statewide environmental bonds recently, making this a “watershed moment for park access,” said Alfredo Gonzalez, Southern California director of the Resources Legacy Fund. Norma García-Gonzalez BA ’95 MA UP ’99, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, highlighted the important role that the public park system has taken on during the pandemic, including serving as winter shelters and vaccination sites, and providing 40,000 households with food through a partnership with Los Angeles Food Bank. “Investing in parks for Black and brown youth is justice reform,” García-Gonzalez said. “This is a call to action that we must work with local and state leaders to make critical investments to support Black and brown students and their futures.” — Zoe Day


Lens on Advantages of Community Land Trusts

Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy Michael Lens spoke to LAist about the prospect of community land trusts (CLTs) as a solution to the affordable housing crisis in California. CLTs are nonprofit organizations that raise money through donations, fundraising and grants to buy affordable housing stock on behalf of a community, protecting the land from speculators and keeping prices low. “It’s a more mission-driven way to acquire land and make it available to be lived on,” Lens explained. Since the CLT retains ownership of the land, residents are protected from sharp increases in rent, Lens noted. Although CLTs are not very common in Los Angeles, many affordable housing advocates have pointed to the model as a solution for preventing displacement and gentrification. “If there’s a significant growth in the number of units that are under CLT frameworks, we’re going to have a larger number of units that are affordable to people,” Lens said.