“Community” is at the core of our mission, our 1 Purpose: To raise standards of living for all our Los Angeles County residents by ensuring a strong, diverse, and sustainable economy.
Community = housing, jobs, and individual well-being. Yet…
- more than 1.3 million residents who live in over 300 census tracts are deemed “severely economically distressed”
- poverty rates are near 20% and unemployment rates are greater than the national average
- L.A. County is in the top 1% of all counties in the nation in terms of income inequality
By adequately preparing our workforce for present and future job demands, creating new job opportunities, and addressing other challenges, such as affordable housing, environmental sustainability and justice, and incarceration rates, communities can impact not only income inequality and intergenerational poverty, but improve overall livability in real terms.
Latest Industry News
Measure of America report: A Portrait of Los Angeles County
Supportive Housing Tracker, by United Way of Greater Los Angeles
Featured Voices
“My name is Jaylin Robinson. I am 20-years-old and a participant at New Earth, an LA:RISE partner. Before joining the program, I was at-risk of being homeless and about to turn to crime to make ends meet. I had been going in and out of jail, which impacted my family in a big way. The struggles I faced made me feel down and at times made me want to give up…”
Jaylin Robinson, New Earth and LA:RISE participantInvest in basic community infrastructure.
A. Employ targeted incentives to encourage developers to build housing for all income levels, including discounted and/or expedited permitting for qualifying projects and energy saving technologies to lower energy costs.
B. Make it a priority in land use planning activities to protect, revitalize and expand “jobs-producing” commercial and production-based parcels.
C. Improve overall safety and disaster emergency response and resiliency, including small business emergency risk management and post-hazard resiliency.
D. Pilot social impact bonding programs that bring more economic development activities to low-income communities.
E. Coordinate regional transit approaches with local infrastructure improvement that enable active transportation, e.g., good sidewalks, bike paths, live-work-recreation density, and proximity to transit options, to reduce congestion, taking ideas from “complete streets” concepts where possible.
Advance physical and mental wellness for individual residents.
A. Address homelessness by providing supportive services, such as mental health and job training services, along with housing initiatives.
B. Eliminate “food deserts” by embracing high-tech vertical farming techniques that inhabit vacant buildings in underserved urban areas.
C. Increase the number of doctors and nurses per 1,000 residents in underserved communities, improve access to preventative healthcare.
D. Expand mental health promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery programs, as well as drug treatment and recovery programs.
Enhance social, environmental and community wellness.
A. Carry out environmental sustainability actions that support environmental and economic co-benefits, and integrate regional investments with local decision-making on land use, housing transportation, infrastructure, energy and environmental practices.
B. Build more community centers in economically distressed communities that combine an array of support services, such as financial literacy, tax preparation and community banking, throughout L.A. County’s underserved communities.
C. Combat labor and other code violations consistently and fund enforcement adequately.
D. Provide support services to ex-offenders leaving prison and ensure their successful reintegration into society.
Data & Metrics
Each goal can be measured by key indicators of success. These include many factors – micro-inputs and macro-inputs. However, we view it as critically important to have accurate information to gauge current conditions, working with our partners to reach desired outcomes in improving quality of life, business conditions, and, making that data readily available.
See our full and growing list of metrics in Measuring Success, and contact us to learn more.
Income Inequality Across U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Homeless Count
Housing Affordability Index