Angelenos Give Up Too Much for Housing

As soon as someone mentions housing affordability, and at the Price School that is everyday, I can’t help but think of Jimmy McMillan. You might not remember his name, but you remember the name of his new party: Rent Is Too Damn High Party.

It is. We know that.

We know rent is high, in part its wage stagnation, slow development, high cost of living, low renter protections … Today, we’re speaking with folks from the Price Center to discuss a new report on housing affordability in L.A.

This isn’t just another report on the monetary cost of housing, telling us more of the things we already know. The report covers findings from a door-to-door survey done in 2019 to unearth the realities of families living with rent burden. What do real people have to give up when their rent is 30%, 40%, 50%, or more of their take home pay?

Policymakers need to think about what other costs Angelenos are facing  “when creating policy responses to protect renters during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Too many of our neighbors faced rental precarity before the pandemic. “Researcher and practitioner efforts must address the impending eviction crisis stemming from the pandemic shut-down as well as the more enduring task of tackling long-term rental affordability.”