Affordable housing solutions for Los Angeles require tactical AND strategic approaches. Bold visions with permanent long-term outcomes to be employed alongside rapidly deployable strategies with immediate tangible benefits for the city’s most vulnerable populations. Our proposal offers interventions addressing both scenarios.
Above The Rails - Above The Rails is a linear community occupying the air rights above LA Metro’s Exposition Line. With the potential to provide as many as 6,054 dwelling units, the community would begin in Downtown Los Angeles and span over 14 miles to Santa Monica.* Utilizing modular construction and spanning the width of the tracks, the project could be implemented with minimal disruption to train service. Rooftop amenities provide residents and the public with an affordable lifestyle occupying previously negotiated territory.
HSF – Homeless populations are essentially forced to survive without one of life’s basic needs: hygiene and self-care**. Bathroom facilities are routinely denied and opportunities for cleansing of self and garments are few and far between. Hsf stations are rapidly deployable mobile stations where homeless populations will have access to laundry facilities, bathing, toilets, and food distribution. Designed to occupy parking lots and unoccupied City-owned properties, the HsF stations provide necessary functions to promote health and maintain dignity.
*ATR CALCULATIONS
Expo Line = 15.2 miles 79,200 linear feet
Assume 65% efficiency (allowing gaps for roads and elevated or otherwise unsuitable for building chunks)
79,200 ft x .75 = 51,480 ft.
To calculate sq. ft., multiply by the maximum width of structure sized to the narrowest areas of track (through the residential areas just west of Exposition Park area.
51,480 ft. [length] x 24 ft. [width] = 1,235,520 sq. ft.
Multiply by average number of stories (building is 3 stories in some areas, 4 stories in other areas).
1,235,520 sq. ft. x 3.5 stories = 4,324,320 sq. ft.
Assuming 70% efficiency due to services, circulation, utilities, and common areas.
4,689,600 sq. ft. x 0.70 = 3,027,024 sq. ft. available for housing
Assuming 1,000 sq. ft. average apartment, you get 3,027 apartments.
Assuming 500 sq. ft. average apartment, you get 6,054 apartments
Assuming 786 sq. ft. average apartment (which is the average size of the apartment stock for Los Angeles), you get 3,851 apartments.
** HSF
Homeless Households
85% Individuals
[7% Veterans, 27 % Chronically Homeless]
15% Families
[0.1% Veterans, 9% Children, 1% Chronically Homeless]
0.1% Unaccompanied Minors
Gender Breakdown:
67% Male
31% Female
2% Transgender
0.3% Gender Nonconforming
Health Issues:
15% Substance Abuse
25% Severe Mental Illness
2% HIV/AIDS
28% Chronically Homeless
Project Team: Christina Charalampaki, Meredith Jensen, Valery Augustin
Link: https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/housing-solutions-los-angeles/