patrick.net

It's only unaffordable if you don't have lots and lots of money. What are you, poor or something?

Anti-density laws, open space and a lack of affordable housing regs created the situation.

When no water comes out of the faucets, real estate prices and rents will be WAY more affordable. Help is near.

tovarichpeter says

In Reseda, an elderly couple fret about where they will go at the end of the month, when they are forced out of the one-room apartment they have lived in for 29 years. In Tujunga, a retired woman lives in a backyard shed, treating her high blood pressure with tea made from her garden and bathing in an outdoor tub with water heated by the sun. In Arleta, a supermarket employee rents a makeshift room in a house that is home to 10 people, and often waits in a long line to shower before work. I didn't set out last...

You guys really believe this crap?
That elderly couple have been living in a one room with no kitchen for 29 years. Ever since this former marine was 51, and his wife was 41. Don't you guys think there is some mental issue with this couple? Minimum wage, food stamps and Section 8 would be enough to improve their lives.
The bathtub woman is waiting for some kind of a resolution for the last 21 years? Really? She obviously had no mortgage or the house would still not be hers. She could sell the property as is and use that money to live decently. Don't you guys think there must be a mental issue on her too?
That Supermarket gal Rosales makes minimum wages, and sends part of her paycheck to El Salvador. I can understand her plight, but you have to ask....is she better off in California, or in El Salvadore? She chose to stay here because her family is still better off.
The guy who wrote the article...Steve Lopez, is an example of bad and deceptive journalism.
Sick Sick Sick!

Anti-density laws, open space and a lack of affordable housing regs created the situation.

-----------

San fransiscos white democrats created the situation. It's their way of assuring that they live in a "good neighborhood ". Make it so no blacks can afford to live within 100 miles, as evidenced by zero blacks living within 100 miles.

This way, the cali dems can sit safely behind their computers all day, polluting discussion forums with their crap about how everyone else is so racist

Strategist says

That elderly couple have been living in a one room with no kitchen for 29 years.

This was a contingency situation to begin with--use of an apartment in exchange for services rendered, they were lucky it lasted 29 years and should have had some kind of exit strategy and not wait until they're old and decrepit.

.Strategist says

The bathtub woman is waiting for some kind of a resolution for the last 21 years? Really? She obviously had no mortgage or the house would still not be hers. She could sell the property as is and use that money to live decently. Don't you guys think there must be a mental issue on her too?

Another case that's just bizarre. The very fact that the way she lives would seem to be the only solution available to her shows some mental problems and also suggests she's the reason plans broke down on restoring her home. Really California nutty.

Strategist says

Steve Lopez, is an example of bad and deceptive journalism

He took three outlandish examples and tried to make a story out of them.

The article is a perfect cross section of LA's poor: Mentally Ill whites, and no skills hispanics, and renters.

Wake up people: A life time being a renter will make you homeless when 'the checks stop coming'. If you own a house free and clear you can milk the equity and then sqaut for much much longer than any renter could in the same situation. (What an awful reason to buy! but its real.) Also a homeowner can 'live in the garage and rent out the house' or take in roomates, good luck doing that on a 4k a month rental unit.

P N Dr Lo R says

He took three outlandish examples and tried to make a story out of them.

Seriously, what does he think he's doing? Writing an Obamacare article?

I read the article. the one thing i found about all these poor people not being able to afford rent and having problems is that they are "working slobs". yep, people working for a living. i NEVER hear of these problems with the smarter ones who found they can live better than workers off the generous welfare system california supplies.

casandra says

I read the article. the one thing i found about all these poor people not being able to afford rent and having problems is that they are "working slobs". yep, people working for a living. i NEVER hear of these problems with the smarter ones who found they can live better than workers off the generous welfare system california supplies.

P N Dr Lo R says

He took three outlandish examples and tried to make a story out of them.

tovarichpeter says

Some make do in cars for years on end.
Some live in converted garages.
Some wedge themselves under freeway overpasses.

These people may be weird and slackers but it doesn't mean there is not a real problem.

I have heard of engineers working in car or closets or garages. This is not a particularly story about poverty. This is just how a lot of people live now.

This is simply what happens when you deliberately choose to build less than your population needs.

All this so Strategist can get his 6% / yr appreciation on his home.

Surely it will end, but not very soon. And when it does, there will be tears too, maybe not from the same people.

Heraclitusstudent says

This is simply what happens when you deliberately choose to build less than your population needs.

All this so Strategist can get his 6% / yr appreciation on his home.

It will be 6% only if they build what they normally build in Coastal Cali. Otherwise it will be twice as much. Besides I think homebuilder stocks will triple in the next 3 years. Roughly 40% annualized return.
I would support a lot of home building.

Bernice worked for the retirement home as a live-in receptionist and medication technician, among other jobs, and in return she got a modest paycheck and the studio was rent-free. She pressed for an explanation and was told her job was being eliminated, and the room went with the job, so she was out.

BOGO!

Strategist says

I think homebuilder stocks will triple in the next 3 years.

Haven't you heard of the 2017 depression?

Heraclitusstudent says

Strategist says

I think homebuilder stocks will triple in the next 3 years.

Haven't you heard of the 2017 depression?

My crystal ball now says there won't be one, because of the severe shortage of homes that should have been built long ago. They will build like crazy, and that will prevent a recession. I see a bright future for Americans.

Strategist says

They will build like crazy, and that will prevent a recession.

Even if they build, this would have to be at lower prices. They will do more volume and cut into margins.

Heck, it's LA, land of perpetual sunshine. All you need is a loincloth and a step ladder for dempsey diving. Get a sweet welfare check and medi-Cal and you
're set.

These people are just spoiled.

Steve Lopez is a hack who has been writing these sappy stories for a few decades. This type of journalism was even mocked early on in the Simpsons when there was an episode showcasing the schools news broadcasts with a focus on "Bart's People".

Anywho, the rental situation is somewhat exagerated. People do incredibly stupid stuff. For instance about six months ago I posted about two young women who moved in next door paying an exhorbinant rent in my estimation. I could not figure out how they could afford it, nor why they would when there was a vacant unit less than 2 blocks away for $350 less a month and places in a just a slightly bit more run down area, but still nice enough, very near by for $600 less per month. Well no surprise they got evicted in about 6 months and I'm surprised they made it that long.

Point being they eschewed something they could afford no problem in favor of a situation guaranteed to fail.

As for me...no rent increase for me and the building mgmt loves me and my family as we are on time every month and we generally are polite and don't make problems.

Curious enough, contrary to the article, when my wife and I moved in here together, the building owner only ran my credit. He didn't need to see my wife's as the unit was less than I had been paying for my old place...which was only about 18% of gross. So maybe...I dunno...seems like people go after too much stuff they don't need.

I know multiple places near Reseda where that older couple could rent a room in a very nice house for around $500-800/mo.... Nicer digs than would otherwise be available. But you have to get along with others..not be invasive or annoying...just in general be a decent reasonable person and not be assholes. I have a strong feeling they do not possess such qualities
As to the lady living in the garage...lol...now Steve Lopez is being the asshole by even including that as part of his story. Where exactly in Los Angeles can you find anything to rent for $350/mo. As someone already pointed out, clearly it's a better situation for the key than her native country, but no really relevant to people being priced out of the rental market. At $350/ mo, she's been priced out of the rental market in LA for at least a few decades.

Strategist says

Haven't you heard of the 2017 depression?

My crystal ball now says there won't be one,

Maybe not a depression, but recessions come on a regular basis and 10yrs is a pretty long cycle.
Wages will start rising, the feds will tighten and send the economy in a recession, as they always do.

marco says

When no water comes out of the faucets, real estate prices and rents will be WAY more affordable. Help is near.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/05/14/el_ni_o_2015_largest_ever.html

Next summer no one will be talking about a drought. I predict many, many mudslides and prayers that the rains stop this winter.