Why listen
After the Eaton Fire, Altadena residents built a land bank to keep disaster capitalists from buying up the neighborhood.
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In this episode
- How a community land bank works to block predatory real estate investors
- Why Altadena's Black homeownership rate makes displacement especially high-stakes
- What local organizations are doing right now to compete with corporate cash buyers
- How residents are deciding what gets built on land that stays in community hands
About this episode
When the Eaton Fire tore through the Altadena neighborhood in January, many homes were lost. But also at risk was history, culture and community in a neighborhood known for its uniquely high Black homeownership rate. In the aftermath, as displaced residents were overwhelmed, private investors have swooped in, offering to buy up scorched lots for eye-popping amounts of cash.It's Altadena versus disaster capitalists, and residents have just taken a big step forward by creating a land bank where vulnerable homeowners who need to sell their properties can keep ownership in the community's hands.
“I'm seeing lots popping up for sale…how do we, you know, how do we keep this land off the market? How do we just buy it?” says Jasmin Shupper, founder of Greenline Housing Foundation, of the moment that sparked the local organization's grant-funded effort to compete with corporate buyers. “We just need community-minded, community-centered and community-located organizations to just buy it – and then work together with the community to determine what happens next.”
Guests on this episode include Shupper, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, president of the Los Angeles City Council, and Eliana Perozo, Next City's Equitable Cities Reporting Fellow for Anti-Displacement Strategies.
About Next City
Join Lucas Grindley, executive director at Next City, where we believe journalists have the power to amplify solutions and spread workable ideas. Each week Lucas will sit down with trailblazers to discuss urban issues that get overlooked.
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