1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I'm asking you to support AB 2074, which would streamline high-rise affordable housing development in California's struggling downtown areas. This bill addresses a real crisis: office vacancy rates exceeding 30% in some cities. Empty offices and boarded-up storefronts aren't serving anyone. Los Angeles stands to gain enormously from this approach. Our downtown already has Metro lines, job centers, restaurants, and cultural institutions. Building dense housing there uses infrastructure we've already invested billions in rather than letting it sit underutilized. More residents downtown means more riders for Metro, more customers keeping small businesses alive, and less pressure to bulldoze neighborhoods on the edges of the city for sprawl development. AB 2074 includes a $500 million revolving fund offering low-interest loans to developers, which means projects that pencil out but need a push can actually get built. Los Angeles has the bones of a thriving urban core. We just need people living there. This bill makes that possible while creating affordable units where transit access is best. The bill passed the Assembly Housing Committee and needs support to reach the floor by the end of May. Vote yes on AB 2074.