BUSINESS
April 25, 2012 | By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
The housing market's long, cold winter may finally be heading into a springtime thaw. New data show price declines easing in big cities, sales of new homes improving nationally and foreclosures in California dropping to levels not seen since before the start of the credit crunch nearly five years ago. The easing of foreclosures is seen as key by many economists, since the glut of these properties being sold at a discount has been...
BUSINESS
January 12, 2012 | By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
Despite signs of trouble for the nation's overheated housing market in 2006, there was plenty of banter and laughter around the big mahogany and granite table inside the Federal Reserve where top policymakers gathered one day in March. Running his first meeting as chairman of the central bank, Ben S. Bernanke, in his collegial style, solicited observations about the economy from colleagues. Some of the Fed's staff earlier had talked about the potential risks, but in that meeting and in subsequent ones that year, there was a glaring absence of alarm about the dangers of the housing bubble and what might lie ahead for the broader economy.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
November 27, 2011 | By Gale Holland and Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times
For a clue to why California is losing its allure as a place to settle down, just ask Jennifer McCluer, who moved out of California in 2007 after she obtained her license in skin care. Unable to afford Orange County's sky-high rents, she opted for Portland, Ore. "A big motivator was that I lived with roommate after roommate after roommate," said McCluer, 30. "Friends said you could probably live on your own up here. The rent was a huge deal for me. " McCluer would like to move back, but it's still too expensive.
FOOD
November 24, 2011
The Strand House Rating: half a star Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory. Location: 117 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Manhattan Beach, (310) 545-7470, http://www.thestrandhousemb.com Prices: Salads, $11 to $15; appetizers, $13 to $18; pizzas, $13 to $19; mains, $23 to $39; sides, $8; desserts, $8 to $12. Corkage fee, $30 per bottle.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
November 8, 2011 | By Gale Holland, Los Angeles Times
More than 49 million Americans live in poverty, an increase from previous counts that reflects heavy medical expenses for older people and high housing costsĀ in Western states, especially California, according to new estimates announced Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The estimates, produced by a first-ever experimental recalibration of the federal model of hardship, adds 2.5 million people to the 46.6 million included in the official poverty count for 2010 released in September.
WORLD
July 30, 2011 | Los Angeles Times
By Edmund Sanders The burgeoning tent encampment along this city's elegant Rothschild Boulevard may not be the start of a Tahrir Square-style revolution, but Israeli student protests over rising rents have exposed a deep middle-class frustration over the economy and are presenting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his biggest domestic challenge yet. The protests began small in central Tel Aviv two weeks ago, but expanded in recent days...