LA’s community land trusts aim to keep housing affordable by letting residents own the buildings they live in. They’re also a radical experiment in living cooperatively.
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On the evening of Thanksgiving 2020, Angelenos watched as formerly unhoused families occupying CalTrans-owned houses in El Sereno were forcibly evicted by California Highway Patrol officers during a tense, hours-long standoff.
The activists, part of the group Reclaim and Rebuild Our Communities, didn t remain in the properties for long, but their protest made their demand loud and clear they wanted the long-vacant homes to be turned over to community ownership, by way of a community land trust.
COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP
Community land trusts, or CLTs, are non-profit organizations that scoop up affordable housing stock before it gets into the hands of speculators, in order to keep it permanently affordable.