Affordable Housing

Until last month, nearly all of Avram Marcovici's Social Security check went for the $700 he paid in rent in Los Angeles. But earlier this month, the 84-year-old moved into a new, government-subsidized apartment complex in North Hollywood, where he pays only $184. "I have more facilities here than in an expensive building," Marcovici said.

Martin and Michelle Frank both grew up in the Jackson, Wyo., area, but they were almost forced out because they couldn't afford to stay. "I know of several people that we went to high school with that have had to move out of town," said Michelle, a night desk clerk at a local motel. With spectacular mountain views, good skiing and easy access to two of the country's best-known national parks--Yellowstone and Grand Teton--Jackson has seen housing costs soar.

The man the city of Ketchum, Idaho, hired to lead it out of the Sun Valley resort area's affordable housing crisis knows exactly what the problem is. Even he needs help with the rent. "The situation is fine, but the only solution was to get roommates," Karl Fulmer said. "That was not something I intended to do after graduate school."

Thirty homeless mothers are vying for a chance to move their families into a new, subsidized apartment complex that will open later this month. But there is space for only 10 families. As completion of the Stoll Community House Apartments on Los Robles Road nears, representatives from three charity groups will interview the women who will become the building's first inhabitants.

Four years after the Northridge earthquake laid to waste many apartment buildings as well as the local economy, occupancy rates in the San Fernando Valley and the rest of the city are outpacing pre-temblor levels in another sign of financial recovery.

The lack of affordable housing for people laboring in the burgeoning service industries has spawned a new kind of migrant worker--people employed in suburban Thousand Oaks who can't find a place to live here. "When this community began in the 1960s, people lived here and commuted out; at that time you might have called us a bedroom community, but that's changed," said senior city planner Lawrence Marquart.

Who should jump for joy over the news that sales of Ventura County homes leaped almost 20% and prices nearly 10% in December over the same time last year? Realtors and mortgage brokers cheered the loudest when these figures were released last week. More sales and higher prices translate directly into bigger commissions for those in the business. The state, too, wins as reassessments send more property tax money to Sacramento (even if all too little of it trickles back home).

The crisis in affordable housing is a statewide problem, but Los Angeles faces special challenges. Its population of poor and working-poor families continues to rise, but public and private resources to finance urban housing are shrinking. The problem deserves attention from Gov.-elect Gray Davis as well as local authorities. More state leadership and funding, including perhaps a bond issue, are needed.

Faced with a growing housing crunch, many cities are struggling to find money to support housing programs, especially for low-income residents. Port Hueneme is not one of those cities. In fact, the city's Redevelopment Agency has deferred more than $2.8 million in legally mandated obligations for housing programs for low- and moderate-income families. The money has been used instead to repay city loans and bonds issued by the agency for various commercial and residential projects.

A nonprofit developer of affordable housing is applying for a $1-million federal grant to help buy and rehabilitate an aging apartment complex that is home to dozens of low-income residents. Thousand Oaks-based Many Mansions plans to apply next week for federal funds for the Park Terrace apartment complex on Erbes Road, according to Executive Director Dan Hardy.