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Tag: Overcrowding

Equitable Rent: Rent Stabilization Standards in the City of Los Angeles

September 16, 2024 / By Ken Baar, Patrick Burns, Daniel Flaming and Anthony W. Orlando / City of Los Angeles Housing Department

One-fifth of Los Angeles renters have incomes below the federal poverty threshold. Half of them spend over 90 percent of their income for rent. Vulnerable renters are more likely to be under 35 years old, live alone, and have annual incomes below $20,000.
Image of the a McDonald's Restaurant sign in Southern California by Daniel Flaming, April 29, 2023. Owned by Economic Roundtable, creation of ERt staff.

Hungry Cooks: Poverty Wages and Homelessness in the Fast Food Industry

May 1, 2023 / By Daniel Flaming and Patrick Burns / Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

The fast food industry is a poverty employer, with a larger share of its workers in poverty than any other industry. All low-wage workers face some level of risk that they will become homeless. This risk is compounded in the fast food industry by the combination of low wages, part-time work and employee churn. These interlocking hazards undercut workers’ ability to pay their rent.
From ERt report, "Outcomes from Rent Stabilization in San José: Research to Support 2019 Updates to the Apartment Rent Ordinance Regulations." Owned by Economic Roundtable, photograph of rent stabilized apartment building in San José, California, by Patrick Burns, ERt staff.

Outcomes from Rent Stabilization in San José: Research to Support 2019 Updates to the Apartment Rent Ordinance Regulations

November 25, 2019 / By Patrick Burns and Daniel Flaming / City of San José California

San José, California's third most populous city, regulates rent increases for older apartment units through its Apartment Rent Ordinance (ARO). To help inform ongoing policy deliberations by the San José City Council and Housing Department staff, this update report gathers recent data about the demographic characteristics of ARO tenants and characteristics of ARO apartments.
From ERt report, "City of San José ARO (Apartment Rent Ordinance): Research to Support 2016 Updates to The Rent Stabilization Regulations." Owned by Economic Roundtable, photograph of rent stabilized apartment building in San José, California, by Patrick Burns, ERt staff.

City of San José ARO: Research to Support 2016 Updates to the Rent Stabilization Regulations

April 16, 2016 / By Ken Baar, Patrick Burns and Daniel Flaming / City of San José California

San José, California's third most populous city, regulates rent increases for older apartment units through its Apartment Rent Ordinance (ARO). To help inform policy deliberations by the San José City Council and Housing Department staff, this report analyzes demographic characteristics of ARO tenants, characteristics of ARO apartments, compares ARO allowable rents increases with Rent Stabilization Ordinances in other cities, analyzes the debt-service pass-through, and financial outcomes of ARO rental properties.
4th of July Celebration Firework Show – Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach CA.

Long Beach Rising: A City that Works for Everyone

October 13, 2015 / By Daniel Flaming, Halil Toros and Patrick Burns / AFL-CIO, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor

Over 54,000 workers employed in Long Beach’s formal economy will be affected by increasing the minimum wage to $15. The annual earnings of workers will increase by about $405 million. The largest share of increased wages—almost $130 million—will go to workers who also live in the City of Long Beach The greatest number of affected workers and the largest payroll increases will be in restaurants, retail trade, education, transportation and warehousing, and health care. The economic stimulus from increased consumption by workers' households will create an estimated 3,186 new jobs and generate $442 million in increased sales in the region.
Photograph by John A. Mozzer, "Fulton Avenue, Sherman Oaks." Uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on February 22, 2008, taken on July 8, 2007. 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.

Rental Housing 2011: The State of Rental Housing in the City of Los Angeles

February 1, 2012 / By Daniel Flaming and Patrick Burns / Economic Roundtable, the Pat Brown Institute

Inadequate housing takes different forms, all of which are detrimental to the well-being of families and individuals. The most prevalent problem is housing that costs more than households can afford to pay. The causes include a housing inventory that has grown slightly less than the population and renter incomes that have increased much less than the cost of housing.
Photograph by John A. Mozzer, "Hazeltine Ave./Collins St., Van Nuys, CA - Before Demolition". Photograph uploaded to Flickr Creative Commons on on February 22, 2008, taken on April 15, 2007. 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.

Economic Study of the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) and the Los Angeles Housing Market

August 1, 2009 / By Daniel Flaming, Patrick Burns, Michael Matsunaga, Mirna Ponce, Ken Baar, Raphael Bostic and Malcolm Bennett / City of Los Angeles Housing Department

Severe overcrowding in Los Angeles rental housing fell 63 percent from 2000 to 2007, the most recent year for which data is available. Only 9 percent of renters are severely overcrowded, with 1.5 or more occupants per room. The bad news is that 58 percent of renters are rent-burdened, paying 30 percent or more of their income for rent. 

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