Proposition H has something for everyone: Apartments paired up with support services for the homeless, apartments for the working class (otherwise known as “low-income”), and my favorite: first-time home-buyer assistance for the professionals, teachers, cops, artists, social workers, firefighters and everyone who keeps our city running but can’t afford to buy a home in Los Angeles. Just think about it- people who work in Los Angeles will be able to live in Los Angeles. No long commutes, no need to expand freeways, and the reduction of pollution, all for about $50.00 to $75.00 per year per property owner.
In 1997, my husband and I were two working professionals (he an artist with Disney and me a social worker with the County of Los Angeles) who set out on the journey to buy our first home. We had no debt and great credit, we saved every dime we could, we did without vacations, we drove very old cars and we took the bus to save money. But with all that, we still needed a little assistance to buy a house. We found that assistance from the City of Los Angeles’ first-time housing programs, similar to one that Prop H on the November 7th ballot would fund.
During the nine years we have lived in our Silver Lake home, we have not only transformed our once dilapidated house into a community gem, we have helped cleaned up the surrounding neighborhood, helped the police rid our street of drug dealers, fought the city to install a traffic light at a dangerous crosswalk, mentored local kids, organized the neighbors to fight for what we needed from the city and county, served as a parent leader at our daughter’s school (our community school), organized community fairs, volunteered with community organizations and coalitions that fight for more park space and improved public transportation, and helped start two Neighborhood Councils. And all in all, by helping to improve the community, we contributed much more than the monies we received from the city’s home-buyer program. Homeownership and high quality affordable rental housing makes for better communities. Vote yes on Los Angeles Proposition H.
In 1997, my husband and I were two working professionals (he an artist with Disney and me a social worker with the County of Los Angeles) who set out on the journey to buy our first home. We had no debt and great credit, we saved every dime we could, we did without vacations, we drove very old cars and we took the bus to save money. But with all that, we still needed a little assistance to buy a house. We found that assistance from the City of Los Angeles’ first-time housing programs, similar to one that Prop H on the November 7th ballot would fund.
During the nine years we have lived in our Silver Lake home, we have not only transformed our once dilapidated house into a community gem, we have helped cleaned up the surrounding neighborhood, helped the police rid our street of drug dealers, fought the city to install a traffic light at a dangerous crosswalk, mentored local kids, organized the neighbors to fight for what we needed from the city and county, served as a parent leader at our daughter’s school (our community school), organized community fairs, volunteered with community organizations and coalitions that fight for more park space and improved public transportation, and helped start two Neighborhood Councils. And all in all, by helping to improve the community, we contributed much more than the monies we received from the city’s home-buyer program. Homeownership and high quality affordable rental housing makes for better communities. Vote yes on Los Angeles Proposition H.
