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Economic Roundtable (ERt) 25th Anniversary Symposium: "Post Election Landscape." Photograph taken by Allison Manos, owned by the Economic Roundtable.

The Power of Truth

February 8, 2017 / By Daniel Flaming

Thoughtful and timely insights from the Roundtable’s 25th anniversary symposium about how we move forward through troubled times are now available online. We need more services that are better targeted to fit individual needs to make headway on reducing homelessness, which is why Measure H is needed.

Economic Roundtable (ERt) 25th Anniversary Symposium: "Poverty, Health and Work." Sheila Kuehl speaking. Photograph taken by Allison Manos, owned by the Economic Roundtable.

Serving L.A.’s Social Justice Movement

December 14, 2016 / By Allison Mannos, Patrick Burns and Daniel Flaming

Reflections From Economic Roundtable’s 25th Anniversary Symposium By: Economic Roundtable Staff Since the November 2016 election, pundits, activists, and others have wondered: What just happened and what’s the most effective thing we can do? Some of us may have lost sleep or gotten angry. Others have felt despair over living in such a divided nation.

Anonymous b/w photograph widely used on the Internet without attribution. No results from Google Image Search or TinEye reverse image source.

Ethnicity at the Margins

November 14, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

The disruptive outcome of the presidential election was determined by just 107,000 voters in pivotal states who were disproportionately working class European Americans. Many voted out of the pain of their economic misfortune as decent jobs dwindle along with prospects for material security and dignity. In most parts of the U.S.,

Architectural illustration courtesy of Skid row Housing Trust, Michael Maltzan Architecture. "Star Apartments" opened in 2014, at 240 E 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014. "The Star Apartments are a purpose-built residential housing complex on Los Angeles' Skid Row that caters to the needs of the long-term homeless."

Finding Shelter

November 9, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

Los Angeles has one affordable housing unit for every six households that need affordable housing. The subset of affordable housing that is deeply subsidized to make it affordable for high-need chronically homeless residents is less than a third of what is needed. In the November 8 election, Los Angeles voters approved the first steps for making headway on these shortfalls.

From ERt 25th anniversary symposium, Economic Roundtable bubble chart "Industry Context for LA's Economic Strategy." Owned by Economic Roundtable, chart creation of Daniel Flaming, ERt staff.

Los Angeles Coming of Age

October 31, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

Cities that have come of age are able to make decisions that shape their own future and safeguard their own well-being. One critical measure of Los Angeles’ standing is its capability to taking actions that influence the economy in ways that help residents earn sustaining livelihoods.

Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the county agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the public transportation system in Los Angeles County,

Job Growth is Necessary to Reduce Poverty

October 5, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

The number of jobs in L.A.’s formal economy has stagnated since 1990, while the population has grown 15 percent. One of the consequences is that L.A. had a poverty rate of 16.6 percent in 2015, compared to the national average of 14.7 percent. Creating jobs is different than redistributing existing jobs, as when one restaurant closes and another opens, or providing more equitable access to existing jobs – an important objective, but different than job growth.

Destination: Home "All the Way Home" graphic, used by permission from Destination: Home Executive Director Jennifer Loving.

Silicon Valley Cost Study Supports $950 Million Affordable Housing Bond Measure

August 13, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

The Silicon Valley cost study, Home Not Found, that was carried out by the Economic Roundtable in collaboration with Santa Clara County and under the auspices of Destination: Home provides the evidence supporting Measure A, a $950 million affordable housing bond measure that will be on the November ballot.

Photograph courtesy of Cinema Libre Studio, from press materials for their film "Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home" (2010). https://cinemalibrestudio.com/skidrowismyhome/featured.html

In Memoriam: Mollie Lowery

July 28, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

Mollie Lowery, a friend whose dignity, insight, decency and truthfulness helped make us better people, died on Monday, July 25, 2016. We worked with Mollie on housing 10th decile hospital patients. She was deeply idealistic and pragmatic, taking responsibility for finding housing and providing long-term support for patients with severe psychoses and acute medical and substance abuse problems, despite knowing how hard the job would be with unpredictable mental health and housing support.

Photograph by Geoff Livingston, "Me and My Boom Box." Uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on April 10, 2017, taken in the Skid Row neighborhood, Los Angeles, on April 2, 2017. Protected under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED license. The Economic Roundtable has not changed the image, and does not imply that the licensor endorses our use. The Economic Roundtable is not using the material for commercial purposes, and is not redistributing a modified, remixed, transformed, or built upon version of the material.

We Need More Evidence-based Homeless Interventions

June 27, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

The Roundtable’s triage tools address the most acute dimension of homelessness – the small number of high-cost individuals who account for the majority of public costs. Other tools are needed to target earlier interventions for individuals with less acute needs who are on the path toward chronic homelessness.

Photograph by Todd Shaffer, "Cigarette Nap," part of the series "Without A Bed." Uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on October 5, 2009, taken on October 2, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA - La Brea and Sunset Blvd. Protected under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED license.

Identifying People who it Costs Less to House than to Leave Homelessness

February 16, 2016 / By Daniel Flaming

Even with ramped-up investments in affordable housing called for by the new city and county homeless plans, affordable housing will still be is in scarce supply for many years. We need an objective system for prioritizing who gets to be housed. The Silicon Valley Triage Tool uses data held by local government agencies to prioritize homeless individuals based on their public costs.

Photograph property of The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation.

Sustainability Indicators for San Gabriel Valley

May 13, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

San Gabriel Valley ranks in the lowest tier, in terms of sustainability measures, emitting less greenhouse gases per job than the County but compensating workers at lower wages.

Photograph by Vicky Sedgwick, "Day 37: San Fernando Valley - Warner Center." Uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on February 7, 2011, taken on February 6, 2011. Protected under the CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED license. The Economic Roundtable has not changed, remixed, transformed, or built upon the material, and is not using it for commercial purposes.

Sustainability Indicators for the San Fernando Valley

May 12, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

San Fernando Valley ranks in the middle tier, in terms of sustainability measures, emitting less greenhouse gases per job than Los Angeles County but compensating workers at lower wages.

How Can We Sustain Los Angeles?

May 11, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

A new report by the Economic Roundtable, Industry Greenhouse Gas and Wage Sustainability released on Mother’s Day in honor of Mother Earth, identifies the climate change effects as well as the wage sustainability of jobs in each industry. The report is available here: http://economicrt.org/publication/sustain-los-angeles/

Photo by Jamelle Bouie..Permission Granted by photographer Jamelle Bouie, contacted via his website jamellebouie.net, for continued use of his photograph "Hands Up," previously posted on Flickr Creative Commons, but then subsequently removed.

South Los Angeles Rising

April 30, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

Twenty-three years ago, Los Angeles exploded with outrage and indignation. Will the city keep its commitments to South LA?

Photograph by Dave Dugdale, "Tip Jar at Open Bar." Uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on September 26, 2010, taken on September 24, 2010. Protected by the CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED license. The Economic Roundtable has not edited the image, even though changes and commercial uses are allowed under this license.

The Tipping Point

April 22, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

One out of four restaurant workers in Los Angeles lives in poverty. A raise in minimum wage that includes tipped workers will save taxpayers on public assistance programs.

Los Angeles Rising infographic: Owned by Economic Roundtable, paid creation of Design Action Collective (inv # 5339), in collaboration with ERt staff.

Why is $15.25 minimum wage a stimulus for the local economy?

March 25, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

A raise to $15.25 by 2019 is an investment in Los Angeles. Dollars earned by minimum wage workers will be spent locally, thereby growing our city.

Photograph by Rudy Espinoza Franco, "25". Uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on February 19, 2013, taken on February 17, 2013. Protected by the CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DEED license. The Economic Roundtable has not changed, remixed, transformed, or built upon the material, and is not using it for commercial purposes.

Impact of Street Vendors on Brick and Mortars

February 19, 2015 / By Yvonne Yen Liu

Economic Roundtable mapped the locations of street vendors and brick and mortar retail and restaurants in Los Angeles. What we found was surprising.

Owned by Economic Roundtable, creation of ERt staff.

Seeds of Change, Our New Blog

January 21, 2015 / By yvonneliu

We at Economic Roundtable are excited to launch our new blog, Seeds of Change, alongside our redesigned website. The title is a reference to the tree of knowledge in our logo, symbolized in Los Angeles by the Wisdom Tree atop Cahuenga Peak. The lone pine tree sits on its perch overlooking the city from its vantage point close to the Hollywood sign.

Photograph by Daniel Flaming, Economic Roundtable, 2011. Owned by Economic Roundtable

Capturing stormwater, capturing jobs

December 17, 2014 / By Patrick Burns

Recent rains in Southern California are a welcome change amid the ongoing drought affecting the region. Each week sees a little more rainfall, sometimes in brief torrents that wake you at night, and others in slow, steady drizzle that last all day. A challenge for the state — and for water-guzzling Los Angeles in particular — is to capture and store that water today for use during the dry days, weeks and months ahead.