The Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) has committed $100 million in development capital to new transit-oriented projects around Los Angeles.
LISC’s L.A. program will lead an effort aimed at expanding affordable housing, businesses, schools, and community facilities in low-income communities located along burgeoning public transit corridors, announced the organization.
It plans to conduct community-specific market assessments over the next 18 months, working closely with local nonprofits and developers to draw up blueprints for neighborhood investment in communities where transit expansion is either planned or underway.
This work is particularly important in an era of scarce public resources, according to Claudia Lima, LISC L.A. executive director. She noted that the city has seen some of its federal community development funds cut by more than 30 percent, which hampers its ability to seed redevelopment efforts.
“When businesses scout for places to build, grow, and expand near convenient public transportation hubs, they are often quick to shy away from the city’s underserved neighborhoods,” Lima said in a statement. “But low-income communities can be good places to live, work, raise families, and do business. And, they need the opportunities that come with the transit-related development that follow heavy and light rail and bus rapid transit lines, just as more affluent communities do.”
LISC completed market assessments in Boyle Heights and Leimert Park as part of a pilot in 2012. That experience laid the groundwork for this broader effort focused on 13 additional neighborhoods, demonstrating how communities can better position themselves to take advantage of redevelopment opportunities.
In addition to the initial neighborhood, LISC is working in partnership with the city to conduct community assessments in Central Vermont, Crenshaw North, El Sereno, Highland Park, Koreatown, Main & Vermont, East Hollywood, North Vermont, Pico Union, Pacoima, Van Nuys, Watts, and Westlake.
