Good news on the housing front

LA's persistent housing crisis is getting more attention, thanks to the growing activism of community and tenant groups, including a creative protest last week, reported in the LA Times article below, at a UCLA real estate finance class taught by a local landlord who is trying to evict his Section 8 tenants. Three weeks ago, activists held a Tent City protest outside LA City Hall and a week later organized a march to City Hall that included civil disobedience inside the City Council chambers.   These protests generated media attention but, equally important, a positive response from elected officials, who are now more involved in responding to concerns of Housing LA, a broad coalition of community and tenant groups, nonprofit developers, unions, and others.  This demonstrates the importance of grassroots organizing.  In general the mainstream media downplay or ignore the housing crisis and the plight of tenants unless grassroots groups promote policy ideas and then create the political tension needed to inject them into the media and the public debate.   More good news is reflected in this article from yesterday's LA Times about the efforts of local building trade (construction) unions to recruit people of color and residents of inner city neighborhoods, including former gang members. My old boss, Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, used to say that "the best social policy is a good job." This article suggests the truth of that statement.