Letters to the Editor: L.A. needs housing. But is 67 apartments replacing a single-family home too much?
To the editor: I cringe when I look at the photo of the nice suburban home in Woodland Hills that developer Akhilesh Jha wants to replace with a 67-unit project. You don't need to be a planner to know that will utterly destroy the neighborhood forever. ("This L.A. developer aims to tear down homes to build apartments where the city doesn’t want them," Aug. 1)
I'm not in the stop-all-development category; my views have evolved considerably in the last few years, as it's become clear that we've underbuilt ourselves into a corner. My 30-year-old son and his friends are blocked from buying homes in our own neighborhoods. We have nowhere near the supply to satisfy the demand.
Which brings me back to the Woodland Hills project. That cannot be the solution to our housing problem. That's not just bad planning; that's no planning, which is how we got here in the first place. We need to get smarter, and quickly.
My heart goes out to those folks in Woodland Hills who probably won't be able to stop Jha from wrecking their neighborhood. It sounds like he has the law on his side, and I fear that he doesn't give a rip about that little neighborhood.
Murray Nies, Coronado, Calif.
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To the editor: Hats off to Jha for his perseverance in adding affordable units citywide, including on lots that currently have single detached homes. Every three or seven units in a larger development helps and distributes these homes throughout the city — including in neighborhoods that may be more desirable or safer and out of reach for many today.
By continuing to stymie housing development with dog whistles like preserving community "character" and warnings that "different backgrounds could be criminal backgrounds," it's renters and potential new neighbors who are being "given the middle finger," not the neighborhoods where this much-needed housing is being built.
Most renters like me aren't from criminal backgrounds, and many potential residents in an area with proposed new housing aren't at the table at the various neighborhood planning meetings, as we aren't yet residents.
Bruce Johnson, San Diego
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To the editor: I blame the ill will that Jha is causing on Sacramento. The latest zoning and housing laws enacted are "one-size-fits-all" solutions that are not doing the good that lawmakers intended.
The giveaways in the "density bonus" are insulting and possibly even dangerous to established neighborhoods. Allowing reduced parking spaces in new buildings, for example, will mean more cars are parked on the street. More people will be vulnerable as they walk to and from their cars at night.
Yes, L.A. needs more low-income housing. But is ruining the harmony of a neighborhood for more units a good solution? I don't think so.
Ruth Silveira, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Jha is building housing that Los Angeles desperately needs. The irritation of city planners is not deterring him, nor should it.
From a different point of view, Jha is a clear illustration of a man living the American dream. He is an immigrant, has worked hard, is highly educated, knows the laws, and even though he is consistently met with resistance, he has determination to keep fighting since the law is on his side.
Bravo. The American dream is still alive.
Rebecca St. John, Long Beach
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
