The History Of Affordable Housing (And Other Headlines)

What is affordable housing exactly?

I asked my best friend this question before writing this newsletter and he said, “In L.A.? That doesn’t exist. LOL.” And he’s probably not the only one who thinks that.

Affordable housing's evolution

My colleague Caitlin Hernández wrote about the complicated history of affordable housing, from a Depression-era housing crisis, through communism fears and up to today’s patchwork of programs.

Some key takeaways from their explainer:

• The definition of affordable housing can range from homes built with subsidized loans to a place you rent where a portion of the cost is covered by the government. But! It can also be defined as a dollar amount you think is affordable to you.
• Affordable housing started during the Great Depression when the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 created the first federal public housing program in which states had to establish local housing authorities.
• Looking at today: L.A. County still is short a massive 499,430 affordable homes. It’s a high number that experts say we can’t keep up with.

Learn more about the history of affordable housing with Caitlin’s explainer.

Have a great Thursday, friends. There’s more news below - just keep reading.

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Renée Threatte

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Courtesy Renée Threatte

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A hopeful new year for Hollywood artists

Now that the SAG-AFTRA strike has ended, thousands of actors, writers, costume makers, set builders and other entertainment industry professionals are getting back to work. I want to break down the economic costs of the strike, specifically in California:Production stoppages that affected movies, TV shows and streaming programs are estimated to have cost the economy about $7 billion, with about half of that in California, according to Kevin Klowden, chief global strategist at the Milken Institute.

So, how does that affect employment in the industry? Experts say a return to business as usual will take time, and that the industry probably won’t get back to the peak employment seen in recent years when there was a surplus of productions driven by streaming platforms.

And while the insight above may sound less-than-optimistic, the Hollywood professionals that my colleague Robert Garrova spoke to are excited to get back to work in the new year and have some hope that things will go back to normal after the holidays. Read the story here.