Is Los Angeles Destroying Its Affordable Housing Stock to Build Luxury Apartments?

Is Los Angeles cannibalizing its affordable rental housing to make way for market-rate and luxury apartments? We looked at records for new multifamily development in Los Angeles to determine what was demolished to build new housing. Los Angeles has not been trading affordable housing units for luxury units. Not only are we not losing large numbers of affordable housing, but our randomly-selected sample found six new affordable units built for every unit demolished. However, the densifying neighborhoods are concentrated in central and south Los Angeles, communities that are on average poorer than the rest of the city.

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