To the editor: I’m a little tired of seeing historic sites framed as a barrier to affordable housing (“Facing community complaints, Mayor Karen Bass restructures her affordable housing strategy”). While they deserve attention and consideration, most of them can, should, and do change over time. They are also a key piece of the affordable housing puzzle.
Most public discourse (and coverage) focuses on housing production, but we can’t build our way out of this crisis. We need a mix of approaches that includes using what we already have. This includes maintaining housing that is affordable now (much of which is in older buildings), adapting existing buildings for residential use, which creates thousands of affordable units each year in the U.S., and adding compatible new housing to older neighborhoods, including historic districts. Courtyard apartments and low-rise residential buildings have always been part of Los Angeles neighborhoods, and creative new takes on “missing middle class” housing abound.
We can achieve our housing goals without sacrificing our cultural heritage, but we all need to come to an agreement. Some people have used preservation as a weapon to block any form of development. Others adhere to outdated notions of what preservation is, isn't, and can be. It's much more flexible than many people realize. Preservation is a tool to improve life; the key is how we use it.
Cindy Olnick, Los Angeles
