LA Weekly has taken a deep look into the local Proposition B, "an extremely obscure measure on the Nov. 4 ballot [that] would wipe out the two-story height restrictions on poverty housing in Los Angeles, legally allowing tall towers containing low-income housing once again," writes Jill Stewart who explains that "the measure [...] would also wipe out the Los Angeles voter-approved cap allowing no more than 52,500 of these low-rent units, in carefully controlled dollops......

Photo by gas station sushi via Flickr A bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger last night will encourage smarter growth for a California that's expected to largely increase in population in upcoming decades. The bill requires the California Air Resources Board to set regional targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions dovetailed into regional transportation planes resulting in a Sustainable Communities Strategy. It also hopes to give developers incentive to build high-density projects near transit hubs.......

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks at news conference where he unveiled his new housing plan (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today an ambitious $5 billion plan, called Housing that Works, to build 20,000 affordable units. “This City’s economic success and vitality depend on our ability to plan for a future of sustainability and stability in our housing market,” Villaraigosa said. “This plan lays the building blocks of housing our middle class......

Today at 2:00 p.m., Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will unveil a 5-year, $5 billion plan to double affordable housing units built in the city and will be announcing a $700 million housing investment from the Enterprise Community Partners. The plan called Housing That Works will "promote mixed-income housing, invest in new neighborhoods along public transit corridors, provide relief to families facing foreclosure and shift LA’s strategy from managing homelessness to moving people out of it." The......

A condo near an Orange Line station dropped about $80,000 in Valley Village over the past month, but the epidemic is widespread. Property values of homes in the Valley have dipped 35 percent to leaving the median price of a previously owned house at $420,000 compared to the $650,000 seen in August 2007.......

Photo by GarySev7en via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Eight California cities made it onto the 2008 US City Sustainability Rankings from SustainLane, a media network company based in San Francisco. Of the eight, four made it into the top 25 leaving the other four in the bottom 25. And it's no surprise that the bottom 25 list includes Central and Southern California cities with Northern California cities ranking at the top......

Tomorrow the National Fair Housing Commission will hold a hearing on the foreclosure crisis here in LA. LA Weekly taps into the story wondering what it means for Mayor Villaraigosa. From the press release for the hearing: "Forty years after the enactment of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, significant housing discrimination still exists in Los Angeles and across the country... Los Angeles is among the hardest hit cities in the current foreclosure crisis, and......

While the housing crisis is a national issue, how the problem is dealt with sometimes comes down to local response. Yesterday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took part in the Los Angeles Business Council's Mayoral Housing Summit, and spoke to those gathered regarding his thoughts on the issue. The event's focus this year was on a regional emphasis for addressing the housing crisis and on the issue of "housing affordability and availability" and aimed at "attract[ing] the......

There are state propositions (like Prop 7, Prop 10, Prop 8, etc) and there are county measures like the could-be Measure R that's about transportation funding. Then there are citywide propositions, which will be worked on today by City Council members in a Ballot Simplification Committee Meeting today (.pdf). What they're working on are two items to look out for on the November ballot, Propositions A and B, or the "Special Gang and Youth Violence......

What? So, Metro is set to vote this week on a mixed-use residential/commercial development that will literally be feet from the Orange Line Sepulveda station in Van Nuys (you know, in that huge parking lot no one uses). "When they first came to me about it, it was supposed to be all residential," Councilman Tony Cardenas, who represents the area, is quoted saying in the Daily News. "Now they are talking about having commercial development."......

Usually, building codes are not at the forefront of state politics, but recently, as Los Angeles and other cities are setting their own building standards, a statewide standard was passed. It's a good step, but Schwarzenegger and environmentalists have differing views on if it is strong enough or not, even though it is the strictest in the U.S. "Nationwide, buildings consume 39% of energy, 12% of potable water, and 40% of raw materials, according to......

The richest treasures are sometimes the simplest. Whether in need of a basic get away home or backyard reading room, Modern Cabana has done it with a great design of stunning minimalism. Part of the Dwell On Design Conference, the structure is one of the many offerings this weekend at the LA Convention Center (It's $50, but you can get in free). See also: Escape in Style with Hom......

At the Dwell on Design Exhibition this weekend (you can get free, check this post on how), various builders, designers and eco-friendly businesses are displaying their works of pride and joy. Within the LA Convention center room is a 1000 square foot home called the Hom Escape in Style. It's one steel building, manufactured in Los Angeles and thought up by a group of locally based designers from the KAA Design Group. With it's rusty......

Celebrity, politician, or regular joe, foreclosures can happen to anyone. It happened to U.S. Representaive Laura Richardson in Sacramento and now it's happening to "heeeeeeeere's Johnny" Ed McMahon at his Studio City home. McMahon is fighting it, but is $644,000 behind in mortgage payments. "Mr. McMahon broke his neck in a fall about 18 months ago and hasn't been able to work," said Howard Bragman, a spokesman for Mr. McMahon, per the Wall Street Journal.......

As you drive "over the hill" from the Valley to Hollywood along Laurel Canyon Blvd., there's a sign there asking for donations to save some plots of land from development. No, it isn't a citizens' group or a non-profit for wilderness, it's a government agency. "Donated funds needed immediately to save these six acres under option by part agency," it reads. In a cash-strapped time for governments, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is asking......

A law that would let landlords prohibit smoking in apartment buildings to protect tenants from secondhand smoke passed in the state senate Thursday -- it next goes to the state assembly, reports the LA Times. "Current law is silent with respect to a landlords' ability to impose a smoking ban," said Monica Williamson of the California Apartment Assn., which supports the senate bill and represents 50,000 property owners. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), who introduced SB......

Photo by discarted via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Contrasting the Los Angeles City Council's vote earlier today on mansionization, affecting single-family homes, another ordinance was passed today -- one that replaces a temporary 2005 law regarding downtown residential hotels, mostly used by low-income and nearly homeless people. The ordinance protects single-room-occumpancy (SRO) and residential hotels within Los Angeles from becoming expensive lofts and condos. If owners want to convert their buildings, they must......

Just like last year, Los Angeles County comes out at the top of the list with the county with the most millionaires. However, as the Wall Street Journal notes, "Los Angeles County, while still in the lead, lost about 7,000 millionaire households." Chicago's Cook County also lost around the same amount while Orange and San Diego Counties dropped slightly. All while Phoenix's Maricopa County gained 23,000 new millionaire households. Is that good for water use?......

"6th Street Bridge Skyline", by the_mule via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Britney Spears may be on her way out of Los Angeles, but she's not going quietly. The pop star was involved in a minor collision last night on the 134 in bumper to bumper traffic where she hit the car in front of her, causing that vehicle to bump the car in front of them. No one was hurt and the......

From Curbed LA via Fox News, those dancing girls in the windows at the 101/110 freeway junction get explained. It's a tough housing market, but sex(iness) apparently still sells... or at least they still try.......

Photo by _ gianni's_ photography _ AKA *Prime Imagery* via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr In part to honor the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and in part to "increase the peace" a 40-hour moratorium on violence goes into effect for the City of Los Angeles starting at 6:01 p.m. tonight. Do your part! Because "You can't fire me...I QUIT!" lacks that certain je-ne-sais-quoi, perhaps? An employee in......

Photo by astacia5 via Flickr We've heard before that the sinking housing market would actually serve to increase the rent on apartments in Los Angeles, and we've had a few lively discussions about proposals to undo rent control laws. But who knew the rate increases would be so drastic? Today's LA Times is reporting on the going rates for a four-bedroom, eight-bath (eight???) Malibu beach house: $150 grand. Per month. Alright, granted this is......

Palms is lousy with apartments, though I've never thought of them as particularly crappy. Both the buildings have recently had a bunch of work done, new paint, new fencing, and as a finishing touch, new signage. See the other building after the jump.......

The famous Neverland Ranch, which has hosted thousands of children in the past, was set to be auctioned off on March 19th. But yesterday, Michael Jackson made a deal with the company he owed $24.5 million to, avoiding the auction and the rumors that David Beckham was going to buy into the property according to an Associated Press news report. 150 miles north of Los Angeles in Los Olivos, the ranch is a 2,500 acre......

With all the recent hype about problems affording homes in Los Angeles and several of the Council members endorsing a plan to keep housing affordable, it appears that the City supports home ownership. However, in an email sent to mortgage brokers, the City has indicated that it will be discontinuing the down payment assistance programs that have been getting a lot of use recently. The standard problem of lack of funds is cited. When reading......

Photo by ChazWags via Flickr He already served a month of jail time when he was convicted last Spring, but today, sleazy wannabe slumlord Darren Stern, who also goes by Henry Shalom, was ordered to pay millions back to rent-control tenants that he mistreated in order to get them to move out so he could raise rents, eventually selling the buildings at "inflated" prices, according to CBS2. The money will be split and given......

There are a few things you can't do in apartments. There are things that you can't do anyway, like drugs, but you also can't break holes in the walls unless you own the place. Well, that's what Jackass star Steve-O did this weekend before his neighbors placed him under citizen's arrest, then turning him over to police, who in turn searched his apartment and found drugs. And if his drugs are of the smoking kind,......

And you thought your monthly rent was high... TMZ has gotten their hands on some paperwork form Love Shack Trust sent to Britney Spears over her Malibu rental home. Says TMZ: "The documents, dated February 14, states that Brit was more than two weeks late in paying her $35,000-a-month rent. A $2,100 late charged kicked in, which was not paid. The documents state that Love Shack must either pay up or "surrender and deliver up......

Last month, the city of Santa Monica ventured out to find the "ten most vulnerable" homeless people (similarly, Los Angeles began to search for the fifty most vulnerable). After finding 277 homeless in the small beachside city, they identified 110 who were vulnerable, meaning those who are most likely to die on the streets. A survey determined a vulnerability score that gave weight to several variables, including length of homelessness and physical and mental health......

In the wake of the big Fidel Castro seemingly-non-news of him stepping down as president (meanwhile the US recently bombed Pakistan without notice or permission), it's interesting to look back at the impact of the man on Los Angeles. The divide between those who wanted to work with Castro's Cuban government and those who vehemently opposed it led to violence -- eleven such terrorism incidents occurred in the Los Angeles area alone according to Cuban......