Housing, housing, housing. And yet, all these ordinances that get passed make it more difficult to build new housing, at least at the city level. Even ED1 got totally kneecapped. If we want to incentivize housing, let’s do so!
Thank you for talking about demographic change in LA! Raising a family here feels like an act of insanity - just dealing with LAUSD alone. My kid goes go to a great school but the onus is on us parents to recruit the next kindergarten class so we don’t lose teachers and funding. The new 3 bedroom apartments are built/priced for roommates, not families. I’ll never forget a developer telling me (while I was pregnant with my first) that millennials LOVE having roommates.
Thanks! An LAUSD elementary school nearby had enrollment fall by 25% in one year. The volunteer recruiter role is so real (for preschools too). And then when parents leave town you end up losing both a current student and whatever prospective ones they would have brought in. Then if the whole school shuts down, even more families start looking to move somewhere with more options. Underappreciated doom loop!
As someone who moved from Dallas to LA at the start of 2024, it is a bit odd. Every bit of sage professional and financial advice said not to go, as did all of my research. But I have a stupidly creative brain that felt constrained back home, and relieved to be here. I still adore it here.
When friends talk about visiting LA, I am quick to bring up my favorite parts, which are improv shows that cost like $10 for a ticket (Pretty Funny and Duo It Again at Lyric Hyperion).
This sort of lull in the media landscape feels like it has made some of the greatest raw talent somewhat accessible in a live setting while we all collectively wait for the world to change in a positive way. So that to me has kinda defined the year.
(But I’m also a former child actor, single cis straight white guy who comes from some generational wealth, so my glasses can tend to have a rosy hue)
After eleven years I moved out of LA permanently last year - at the time, I wouldn’t have attributed the decision to any of the factors described here (for instance, the housing issue was a non-factor due to fortunate personal circumstances) but looking back, when I try to pin down the actual vibe (for lack of a better word) that shifted such that I no longer dreamed of LA as my forever home - this nails it. I also had a baby and my level of exasperation with LA’s hopelessly and unnecessarily car-centric infrastructure reached a breaking point. With Culver City ripping out its bike lanes it seemed that what little and insufficient progress had been made was not even likely to remain.
Wow. Gutting to read this but thank you for saying it. “No longer dreamed of LA as my forever home” is so painful but that’s really the thing right there.
Housing, housing, housing. And yet, all these ordinances that get passed make it more difficult to build new housing, at least at the city level. Even ED1 got totally kneecapped. If we want to incentivize housing, let’s do so!
Great post Hayesman! Love how you dig past the reactionary headlines into the real data.
Thank you for talking about demographic change in LA! Raising a family here feels like an act of insanity - just dealing with LAUSD alone. My kid goes go to a great school but the onus is on us parents to recruit the next kindergarten class so we don’t lose teachers and funding. The new 3 bedroom apartments are built/priced for roommates, not families. I’ll never forget a developer telling me (while I was pregnant with my first) that millennials LOVE having roommates.
Thanks! An LAUSD elementary school nearby had enrollment fall by 25% in one year. The volunteer recruiter role is so real (for preschools too). And then when parents leave town you end up losing both a current student and whatever prospective ones they would have brought in. Then if the whole school shuts down, even more families start looking to move somewhere with more options. Underappreciated doom loop!
And thank you so much for reading, Kate. Means a lot to have one of LA’s best reporters engaging in here!
As someone who moved from Dallas to LA at the start of 2024, it is a bit odd. Every bit of sage professional and financial advice said not to go, as did all of my research. But I have a stupidly creative brain that felt constrained back home, and relieved to be here. I still adore it here.
When friends talk about visiting LA, I am quick to bring up my favorite parts, which are improv shows that cost like $10 for a ticket (Pretty Funny and Duo It Again at Lyric Hyperion).
This sort of lull in the media landscape feels like it has made some of the greatest raw talent somewhat accessible in a live setting while we all collectively wait for the world to change in a positive way. So that to me has kinda defined the year.
(But I’m also a former child actor, single cis straight white guy who comes from some generational wealth, so my glasses can tend to have a rosy hue)
After eleven years I moved out of LA permanently last year - at the time, I wouldn’t have attributed the decision to any of the factors described here (for instance, the housing issue was a non-factor due to fortunate personal circumstances) but looking back, when I try to pin down the actual vibe (for lack of a better word) that shifted such that I no longer dreamed of LA as my forever home - this nails it. I also had a baby and my level of exasperation with LA’s hopelessly and unnecessarily car-centric infrastructure reached a breaking point. With Culver City ripping out its bike lanes it seemed that what little and insufficient progress had been made was not even likely to remain.
Wow. Gutting to read this but thank you for saying it. “No longer dreamed of LA as my forever home” is so painful but that’s really the thing right there.