Michelle Hernandez

 Michelle Hernandez- The Cost of Living in Los Angeles County

ART 3170 Civic Engagement project

The Social issue

Many people believe that living in California is such a fantastic place to live in. The beautiful weather, the palm trees, the beaches, the famous food like IN-N-Out and Hollywood. There are people from other states to think at California is a great place to live, but they often forget to think about how expensive it is to live here. The cost of living need to considers many factors such as housing, food, transportation, child-care, health expenses, utilities, and taxes.

Research 

The problem of rent cost in the Los Angeles county according to the article called “LA Rental Price Keep on Rising” by Elijah Chiland, an average price of a one-bedroom apartment in the Los Angeles County now stands at $1,775 per month, and for a two-bedroom is an average is $2,235. A one-bedrooms have risen 2.2 percent, while the two-bedroom price has jumped 2.3 percent.

According to the Affordable Housing, the families who pay more than 30% of their income for housing. Many of them have difficulty time to affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care. The family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage can’t afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom anywhere in the United States. 

The Los Angeles County and Orange County are becoming more expensive to live in.  The rent rose at a fast pace in 14 years according to the Consumer Price Index. The cite the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Orange County Register reports in the increase of 5.8% annual rate last month. It was the highest for the month of July since 2005. In the years 2009-2014 local rents rose an average 1.7% a year.

PERSONAL

This issue affects not only me but our community too. I have been living in Los Angeles County for my entire life know from personal experience how high the cost of living is here. As I get older, I notice that the minimum wage increase so does the prices of everything else, such as food, gas, transportation, housing, child-care, etc. The minimum wage is not enough for families to live comfortably with the high cost of living here. Not only does the high cost of living in Los Angeles County affect me, but also many people who are low-income earners. Like many other students, I still live with my family because it is hard to find a cheap place to live by yourself. You need to save a lot of money, but it is still hard because you need to buy stuff like food, water, etc. Growing up with one working parent sometimes is hard to pay the rent because we also paid for water, gas, food, etc. It's unfortunate to see other families leave California and move to another state and start over because they could not pay the rent here is too expensive. I believe it is time we take some action against the high cost of living in California.

Gathering Evidence In the Cal State LA community
Interview

Moses Lomibao

"I'm 21 years old, and my monthly rent total is around $1,435. I live with my parents in a one bedroom apartment in Korea Town, Los Angeles. Despite living with both my parents,only one of them is eligible to work, so our forms of income are myself and my father, who works out of state in Nevada as a live in care giver. As a student who not only needs to provide for himself, but has family as well, I feel that the prices for housing in LA are a bit unfair and in flated. Especially given the living conditions we are provided as well as comparing the housing prices in other places such as Nevada. Not to mention that our rent slowly increase annually." 

Melanie Calamonici 

"I  believe that rent control within L.A is good, as it increases each year accordingly to wages. However, the rent in LA itself is higher than on the edges of the county which contributes to the high amount of homelessness in LA. Rent control should be more lenient to the people but not to make living impossible." 

Daniel Madrigal

"The rent in Los Angeles county is too high. Los Angeles county is one of the most expensive ares to live in the United States which is unacceptable. More rent control should be put in place in an  effort to create more affordable housing and to control the horsing crisis."

Sources:

Elijah Chiland (2019,August 13) LA rental prices keep on rising https://la.curbed.com/2019/8/13/20804519/los-angeles-rental-prices-data

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(Who Needs Affordable Housing?) https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/affordablehousing/

2019,August 20 Rent Prices Increased 5.8 Percent in Los Angels and Orange Counties In Julyhttps://abc7.com/realestate/rent-costs-increase-in-los-angeles-and-orange-counties/5481109/