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# Could LA River Help LA Meet Its Housing Goals?
April 27 2015
Written by Bianca Barragan.
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NEIGHBORHOODS LA-Mayor Garcetti's [announced](http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/04/los_angeles_housing_crisis_fix.php) he wants to build **100,000** new housing units by 2021, and a new report out from the Los Angeles Business Council says that neighborhoods along the [soon-to-be reinvigorated](http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/05/feds_now_recommending_best_and_biggest_la_river_restoration.php) LA River could make a huge difference in reaching the Mayor's goal, the [*LA Times* reports](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-river-housing-20150424-story.html%20%20).
These neighborhoods, long ignored by developers, are now seen as "**fertile land** with a lot of development potential," according to the UCLA professor who wrote the report; that change in perception can be used in LA's favor when it comes to building new housing quickly and funding more of the affordable kind.
The report advocates creating **special zones** along the river where development is encouraged and simplifying the **permitting process** within those zones. The report notes that many projects along the river involve either rezoning of land or some kind of cleanup to remove environmental hazards, both of which can be time-consuming and cause costs to rise. To counteract this, a range of new policies are suggested, including "local design guidelines and **expedited permitting**"—all aimed at keeping costs low and building timely. *[(Read the rest.](http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/04/could_the_la_river_play_a_key_role_in_helping_la_meet_its_housing_goals.php%20))*
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 35
Pub: Apr 28, 2015
*{module \[1177\]}*
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