Los Angeles rents are rough for everyone (57 percent of people living here can't actually afford to do so) and keeping a roof overhead is notably hard for teachers. Their average salary only covered 8.7 percent of LA homes on the market in an analysis last year, and it looks like they're not doing much better when it comes to affording their rents. And so now the LA Unified School District is teaming up with nonprofit housing developer Abode Communities to build a 66-unit complex in Hollywood that's aimed at LAUSD employees "who want to live near work but can't afford to pay for housing costs," says LA Weekly.
The four-story building at North Cherokee and Selma will be open to workers "who fall into a designated economic category," says a release from LAUSD. The district is acutely aware that housing, especially in Los Angeles, has become increasingly unaffordable, with many people paying way more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. They also note the outrageously wide gap between wages and rents, pointing out that "the annual median rent since 2000 has climbed 21 percent statewide, while the typical renter has seen their income drop 8 percent." (The LAUSD in this case pays those incomes, but presumably it's harder to raise wages for everyone than to build new housing for 66 teachers.)
The complex, called Selma Community Workforce Housing Project, should be finished in the fall of 2016. This is the second of three planned housing complexes the school district is building to help LAUSD employees afford to live close to work. One already completed project is near Gardena High School in Gardena and another near USC is expected to be complete in late 2016.
· L.A. Rents Are so High the School District Is Building Apartments for Teachers [LAW]
· Providing Affordable Housing Amid Soaring Rents in Southern California [LAUSD]
· LA Teachers Can Only Afford 8.7 Percent of LA Houses [Curbed LA]
· 57 Percent of People Living in Los Angeles Can't Afford to Live in Los Angeles [Curbed LA]
· Los Angeles Has the Biggest Disconnect in the US Between Wages and Rents [Curbed LA]
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