...And now: L.A. $5 billion housing plan

[Jolie Rouge]

And now: L.A. $5 billion housing plan
September 29, 2008

Hey, why not? If it all goes sour, they can just line up behind every other failed enterprise and get their bailout. Oh, excuse me. “Workout.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday will unveil a $5-billion, five-year plan to build housing for the poor and middle class. The blueprint, which calls for thousands of new homes along subway and bus lines, and developments with people of all incomes living together, would, according to the mayor’s deputies, alter the look and feel of the city forever.

But the plan, which many City Council members and business and housing groups said they had not yet seen, is being released while the housing market is a shambles, the state is facing a massive budget shortfall and the economy is teetering — challenges that lead some to wonder whether it is feasible.

“I know that budgets are tight . . . credit is almost nonexistent,” Villaraigosa said Saturday to a room full of community and labor groups pushing for more affordable housing. “But we’re going to reject the cynics . . . and build a brighter future for those kids who are in the corner over there.”

The mayor got a standing ovation at the union hall near downtown Los Angeles, and chants of “Si, se puede” (”Yes, we can”) from the dozens of people in matching red T-shirts in his audience…

…Villaraigosa acknowledged that in the current climate of economic uncertainty, some of the money the city is counting on may not come through, but he said he was confident other sources might open up. Federal dollars may flow to the city because of the foreclosure crisis, for example. He said he “sat down with three economists yesterday” and they assured him the plan was sound.

Housing entitlement mindset at work:

“We need a new solution,” Donna Rodriguez said Saturday. The account manager, who lives in Silver Lake, said she makes $42,000 a year and spends half of her take-home pay on the $1,150 rent for her one-bedroom apartment. “Look,” she said, waving copies of her paycheck and rent checks to illustrate the problem. She added that she shares a bed with her 8-year-old daughter, Lily.

“I want bunk beds,” Lily chimed in as her mother smoothed her hair and told her to tell members of the media that she wanted her own bedroom.

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[PrincessArky]

OMG I just cant even freaking believe in a time like this that so many of these elected jerks are wanting to spend MORE money that we DON'T have