The University Of Southern California Can Also Be Held Accountable For Gentrification In the South LA Community
Ingrid Hernandez
Professor Zen Dochterman
WRIT 150
5 December 2021
The University Of Southern California Can Also Be Held Accountable For Gentrification In the South LA Community
Gentrification is an urban community changed by wealthy people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, and eventually displacing individuals from their homes (POV). Since the 1960s millions of families have been displaced due to gentrification. My whole life I grew up in South Los Angeles but not the glamorous South LA with Beverly Hills, Hollywood, or Downtown LA. That’s not all LA is about, it is a city with a diverse community with many different cultures and people of different backgrounds living here. It is a city of opportunities but it is also good to make lifelong friendships and discover new places owned by the locals who’ve lived here their whole lives. But the things that longtime members of the community enjoy are slowly vanishing due to gentrification removing these places like Mini-Markets around the corners or local restaurants owned by Latinx and black individuals. Many of the homes are being bought and destroyed and evictions are occurring especially near the University of Southern California. In August of 2017, the University of Southern California remodeled the USC Village near Hoover street. The previous Village held jobs for many of the South LA residents but many ended jobless due to the closing and remodeling of the area. As a result, the University of Southern California has caused growth in gentrification towards low-income Latinx/Hispanic and black individuals in South Los Angeles. Many of the community members that live within this area have been displaced from their homes. In this paper, I will examine how gentrification in the South LA area is driven by real estate agents looking to make a profit off of the demand for student housing, and by looking at what is happening in France we can see how organizing tenants unions to protest can get people in power to listen which can help the people with what they want.
As a South LA resident, who has lived in South Los Angeles for almost all my life and now a USC undergraduate student I want to raise awareness about this issue that not only impacted my family and me but impacts hundreds of other families in the neighborhood. Many of the students attending USC don’t know or might not understand what is happening within the South LA community because they are stuck in a bubble within the university community or well-known areas outside of South LA but not the actual community surrounding them. It is time for those who are gentrified or who know about these issues to educate students and those with privilege in the USC community in the best way possible. One of the reasons why members of the community are being displaced is due to the increase in housing options for USC students within a 1-mile radius from campus. Developers have chosen to invest in the USC neighborhood because they can take advantage of families that can afford to pay these high prices for their students. The way they do this is they take advantage of low-income individuals to flip houses for large profits. They destroy homes and create apartment buildings for students in the USC area and because of this and the higher rents, families get displaced predominantly Latinx and black families. For instance, in 2018 tenants in seven buildings along Exposition Blvd near USC were hit with eviction notices (Lanctot, Juarez). I remember when I used to walk by these apartments going to the USC campus when I was in middle school and then one day I realized all the people had been evicted, the windows were sealed with wood and there were posters all over the fences. Chung Suk Kim and Hae Jung Kim purchased the buildings for $8.5 million, the Kims never bothered to formally introduce themselves to their new tenants choosing to immediately post 60 and 90-day notices to vacate all units, explicitly stating that the Exposition apartments would be remodeled and rented exclusively to USC students (Lanctot, Juarez). I saw the whole process while I still lived on that street and ever since then it hasn’t been the same. Again, USC might not be directly working with these realtors but they are encouraging them to continue buying properties and creating housing for students.
Real estate investors continue to be driven by this and because of these investments what happens is Tripalink Corporation a student housing company sets up in the USC area. According to USC, “The [University] has no affiliation with Tripalink. We will continue to work with our partners in the city of Los Angeles and our community through a City Council task force that includes Neighborhood Councils and community leaders. This public process is designed to help maintain the neighborhood’s integrity”(Fuchs). Although the University claims that they have no affiliation with these expensive housing companies Vargas claims they might not directly be working with these companies but they are responsible by saying, “USC is not doing enough for their students in their campus, so what we see is [the University] giving these companies the idea for them to go out and gentrify, and then pretty much displace folks, so they can house more students in the surrounding area”(Fuchs). These housing companies, just like Tripalink, take advantage of international students who have parents that can afford these kinds of prices by providing them with expensive housing options. Students pay around 1,000 dollars per bed, even in shared rooms, and can cost over $1,500 (Fuchs). This has caused a lack of affordable housing for tenants in South LA surrounding USC especially because realtors are flipping properties and it has become a high success in Los Angeles.
“A lack of funding yet again leaves the poor without adequate use of their rights in this city”(Lanctot, Juarez). To fight back against this there have been community efforts to protest and get government officials to do something. We can look at local organizations here such as SAJE and UNIDAD that have tried to help the community during these developments. “Since 1996 SAJE has been a force for economic justice in our community focusing on tenant rights, healthy housing, and equitable development”(SAJE). SAJE has dealt with the issue by working aside UNIDAD to accomplish the pass of the Community Plan Implementation Overlay Zones (CPIO). CPIO can be used to help manage growth and conserve character in residential, commercial, industrial, and transit-oriented neighborhoods (LA Conservancy). SAJE also accomplished the ‘Lorenzo Project’ Community Benefits Agreement which will take place near USC in which “Geoff Palmer has agreed to provide funding for community health promotion, affordable housing creation in South Los Angeles, job training, local small business support, and transit-oriented development support for development around the Exposition Line”(UNIDAD). Some of the Coalition Organizations believe that this will improve the quality of life for residents in and around South Los Angeles (UNIDAD). The Lorenzo Project seemed beneficial to the community and USC students but this won’t stop the gentrification in the area. Hundreds of families are still being evicted and displaced in South LA, especially when these temporary solutions can get lost. SAJE is currently debating with city officials about the Library site that is near Vermont and 36th right across the street from USC. The library got displaced years ago and the lot has been empty for many years, SAJE wants to give it to the people in the community by creating something the people need. Sadly, the city doesn’t agree and they want to create a Marriott hotel. “Students, Exposition Park residents and activists from over 25 community groups gathered on Aug. 27 for a rally along Jefferson Boulevard to demand that the former site of the Mary McLeod Bethune Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, currently slated to become a hotel, be devoted instead to affordable housing” (Allen). We should take into consideration that this debate has been happening for years and they have not decided on the small protest in 2020 outside the lot. SAJE can’t provide help to everyone because their resources are very limited with fundings becoming less.
We can look at international organizations that are protesting like France. They have their unions called The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and Right to Housing. “CGT is the second-largest and oldest union in France, along with Right to Housing they help decrease rents, increase investment in public housing and end evictions and removals. They point out that state assistance for lower-income individuals needs to increase and that officials who carry out an eviction are responsible for finding new housing for those evicted” (Dunkel). The difference is that these unions are more successful in getting the community involved and having these issues known for those responsible for displacement to be held accountable. They have protested and utilized their social media platforms to advocate for the rights of these individuals. Los Angeles Unions such as SAJE and UNIDAD can consider these strategies to help the community with these developments in the community surrounding the University of Southern California. But where will we get the fundings from for action to take place? We can write to government officials, city officials, and people interested in becoming a member of the unions as well as community members. The most important is to get more USC students involved, especially with issues happening in a neighborhood they will be surrounded by for their college years and maybe even more if they choose to stay. By incorporating these strategies we can get enough resources to help families displaced and build a stronger and safer community.
It is time that USC gets involved with the community involving gentrification caused by the university and gives back to those surrounding them, those who have lived in this city their whole lives. As a USC student now, who has lived in South Los Angeles a couple of streets down from USC I have felt awful about knowing that people get evicted from their homes and displaced. USC can provide opportunities for local businesses and work with SAJE or dozens of other unions to provide resources for the community. We are also privileged because we share the community with amazing community members and we have these resources. We can go out there, use our voices and help out the community as much as we can.
Works Cited
Dunkel, G. “French Unions Respond to Housing Crisis.” Workers World, 4 June 2021, www.workers.org/2021/06/56834/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021
“Home.” SAJE, 27 Aug. 2020, www.saje.net/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021
“Los Angeles Conservancy.” Community Plan Implementation Overlay District | Los Angeles Conservancy, www.laconservancy.org/community-plan-implementation-overlay-district. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021
Paul Lanctot & Christina Sanchez Juarez | April 17, and Paul Lanctot & Christina Sanchez Juarez. “The Exposition Tenants Association Fights Against Gentrification.” Knock LA, 30 Aug. 2021, knock-la.com/the-exposition-evictions-and-the-fight-for-housing-in-south-la-739976a08271/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021
Pov. “What Is Gentrification?: Flag Wars: POV: PBS.” POV, 17 Jan. 2003, archive.pov.org/flagwars/what-is-gentrification/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021
“South Los Angeles Community Leaders Sign Agreement for Lorenzo Project.” Intersections South LA, 11 Feb. 2011, intersectionssouthla.org/story/south_los_angeles_community_leaders_sign_agreement_for_lorenzo_project/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021
“United Neighbors in Defense against Displacement.” UNIDAD, www.unidad-la.org/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021
