USC expansion displaces surrounding businesses
By JENNIFER JIMENEZ
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (AYA) — -The expansion of USC’s new Village brought up a lot of controversy in from the surrounding neighborhood because it displaced a lot of people and rent prices increased.
Former USC student Katherine Soper graduated four years ago with her International Relations major. She was one of the few alumni who tried to stand up against the Village’s expansion when it was in the plans then.
“There was a Superior Grocery store [in what is now the Village ] that was being used by the locals and other businesses that are no longer here because of the Village,” Soper said.
Soper also said that unlike the other neighborhood shops that were previously in what is now the Village, the Village actually closes, making it inconvenient for the local shoppers.
Soper feels as though the tensions between the campus administrators and locals have only gotten worse since the addition of the Village.
The only shop that wasn’t displaced after the construction of the Village is the Village Cobbler. The owner the Cobbler was asked to comment on how he felt still being there, but denied to comment.
Similar to students, staff members at USC also had some input to this situation.
Stephanie Arroyo is part of the Biomedical Engineering Staff at USC. Although she said she was shy, Arroyo came up with ideas toward the problems that this USC campus expansion has had for others.
“I don’t know if there is any focus on who [these business] hire,” Arroyo said. “I mean, that would be something that would be good to give back to the community if they hired locals.”
However, Arroyo does see a pro to this whole situation: the USC neighborhood Homeownership program. According to the USC website, “…this program provides eligible employees with monthly payments totaling $50,000 or 20% of the homes purchase price (whichever is less) over a seven year period”. In order for these employees to be “eligible” it is necessary for the employee to purchase and occupy a single family household in the neighborhood surrounding USC.
“It’s a program that encourages staff and factually to buy homes near the area.” Arroyo explained. She declared that being a staff herself she was appreciative of having this program and its benefits it has brought in this area.
