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THE VIEW FROM HERE - By the time the Titanic hit the iceberg, it was too late to avert disaster. The only salvation was to abandon the ship. So too for Los Angeles.
For decades, Wall Street has been sucking hundreds of billions of dollars out of Los Angeles by constant densification. Densification increases land values and that increases housing costs while doubling and tripling mortgages which direct hundreds of billions more dollars to Wall Street – although densification increases prices, it decreases quality of life. It’s based on the false claim that all property should be built out to its extreme maximum density -- hence, the false meme of Highest and Best Use.
Living Value vs Developer Value
An important distinction, which Wall Street and the LA City Council never explain, is Living Value vs. Developer Value. Families buy homes in which to live, raise a family in a secure environment, and to accumulate equity, aka inter-generation wealth. Developer Value is considerably higher since the developer will make a profit by increasing the density. A single family home on its own lot is worth less than that if the same lot had twelve apartments. Thus, developers easily outbid families. The higher price which the developer will pay for a R-1 home is based on his densification of the property. His purchase price, however, goes into the Comparable for nearby properties so that when another R-1 owner wants to sell, he lists his home in the same range as the developer paid. If a family pays only 50% above the Living Value, the family’s mortgage has to be correspondingly higher. As more developers buy more properties, the Comparables grow higher, thereby aggrandizing home prices while the quality of life of nearby homes usually decreases. Who wants to live near a 5 story Poverty Project?
In 1970, two or 3 bedroom homes north of Franklin Avenue but south of Foothill sold for between $21,000 and $30,000.00. Today those same homes sell for $1.5 to $2.0 Million. Adjusting for inflation, the 2025 price range should be between $175,793.81 and $251,134.02. Allowing $400,000 for upgrades, the range should be $575,800 and $651,130. Wall Street fraudulently raises housing prices by other means such as foreclosing on homes during the Subprime Crash in 2008 and then not re-selling the homes, but keeping them off the market so that there are fewer R-1 homes for sale, which artificially raises housing costs.
The city of Los Angeles is losing population, especially Family Millennials (bn. 1981-1996) who are the prime home buying category. The average age of first time home buyers is now 40. The oldest Gen Zer (bn. 1997-2012) is only 28 and the youngest is only 13 years old. Thus, Gen Zers have yet to reach the average home buying age. Because our Family Millennials are moving away, their Gen Z children are gone. That is why the school district faces a financial crisis. The State of California pays LA schools $24,746.00/pupil. LAUSD had over 737,000 pupils in 2000, but in 2024, it had only 402,600 pupils. Numbers are dropping because the prime child rearing generation, Family Millennials, have left Los Angeles. Private businesses suffer similar loss of customers, which is why good jobs have also left Los Angeles. The more high paying jobs outside California, the faster Angelenos Millennials move away.
Densification cannibalized Rent Control Apartments (RSO’s) and older single family homes as they were the cheapest to buy and tear down for high end projects. Over 30,000 low income apartments and small single family homes were destroyed. Because vacant RSO apartments rent for full market value, evicted RSO tenants must pay fair market rate. Thousands of disabled, seniors, and working poor cannot afford market rate and become homeless. Once older smaller homes have been demolished, the supply of starter homes, which young families can afford, shrinks driving up the price of the remaining homes.
Whether the Family Millennials move out of LA or increase the percent of their income spent on housing, Los Angeles loses. Those who pay more for a home, take out larger mortgages and that money goes to Wall Street, leaving the family less disposable income for consumer goods. Thus, the high mortgages which Angelenos pay are a huge multi-billion dollar drain on the LA economy. Because developers devastated all the low income housing, LA has a Homeless Crisis which cost the city at least $1.3 Billion in 2025-2025. This explains why Los Angeles has been unable to afford to keep the Fire Department fully funded. In 2012, “Mr. Manhattanization” Eric Garcetti looted the LAFD funds. When a June 2013 Grand Jury said he should replenish the funds; he refused. If Mayor Bass had spend 60% of the city budget on the Fire Department, she could not have compensated for Garcetti’s harm.
Los Angeles Cannot Build its Way Out of This Disaster
Although the city’s economy is addicted to construction dollars, building more density is fool’s solution. Who builds into a gut? We have well over 11,000 vacant units. AB 79 is destroying the only homes Family Millennials want, i.e., detached single family homes. Also, LA is full. Each new project makes LA denser which increases land values which increase housing costs which incur higher mortgages which make families poorer.
No Charter Proposal Even Recognizes the Problem
Transparency? Ha! Viewing an execution does not save the guy’s life. Besides, Angelenos have been told for 20 years what’s happening, but they insist on electing the same crooks under the same feudal system where each councilmember is the lord or lady of their own fiefdom. Ninety-Nine percent of Angelenos refuse to understand the One and Done Rule by which the city runs. By 2010, Garcetti’s densification policies had driven so many residents and businesses out of his CD 13 (Hollywood), that it ceased to qualify as legal council district. The city’s solution? Take part of CD 4 and Koreatown and add them to CD 13 and continue the insane Manhattanization.
No charter proposal admits any facet of LA’s woes. The only people, who escaped the Titanic’s fate, were those who fled before it was too late. For Angelenos, the best option is the exurbs where housing costs are low and economic opportunities are increasing with high standards of living.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a former Los Angeles-based attorney, an author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
