Los Angeles is about to test a new kind of housing politics

Key Points:

• Karen Bass, elected mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, campaigned to address homelessness and housing affordability but undermined her administration's affordable housing policies and opposed state efforts to increase housing production, leading to her recent electoral defeat by progressive council member Nithya Raman.
• Los Angeles faces severe housing challenges, including the highest home price-to-income ratio and limited housing stock, with broad political agreement on the need for more housing but inconsistent policy implementation.
• Bass initially fast-tracked affordable housing developments but later restricted these efforts, particularly in single-family neighborhoods, and opposed key state laws promoting denser housing near transit, actions that critics say reflect a lack of serious commitment to solving the housing crisis.
• Raman, known for her direct advocacy for housing reform and YIMBY stance, promises a break from past approaches and will face significant political challenges in expanding housing, especially in single-family zones, but benefits from support by California’s new governor, Xavier Becerra.
• Raman’s political blend of YIMBY housing advocacy and left-wing economic populism, including support for rent control, represents a new synthesis in Democratic politics that could influence broader efforts to address housing affordability in Los Angeles and beyond.