Healthy Land for Social Housing

Affordable housing and homelessness

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)

Research (initial work to identify and understand the problem)

Los Angeles cannot solve its housing crisis without addressing the legacy of environmental racism that has left many low-income communities with toxic, unremediated land. Decades of redlining and disinvestment have concentrated polluting industries like oil drilling, gas stations, and auto shops near where people live, exposing residents to lead and other harmful contaminants. Building housing over land that is not properly taken care of causes negative long term health effects to its residents. As ACT-LA advances transformational policies to build alternative permanently affordable models of housing across LA City and County, we recognize that safe, healthy land is foundational to that vision. To achieve this, we must build internal capacity to assess land viability, understand remediation methods, and ensure that future housing production is not only equitable but also has a strategy towards securing permanent funding sources for land remediation.

ACT-LA will launch a cross-sector initiative to bridge the gap between social housing development and environmental justice by building internal expertise and capacity to address land remediation needs in Los Angeles. This initiative will inform long-term planning, advocacy, and policy development toward ACT-LA’s strategic goal of securing a sustained public funding stream for land remediation. To do so, we will conduct a power analysis to identify the political landscape, assess opportunities to hold polluters financially accountable, and shape strategies that advance both environmental justice and housing equity. The project will establish a cohort of member organizations, grounded in environmental justice principles, to lead research that: maps public and private lots available for housing; assesses land conditions and remediation needs; identifies historical and current polluters and landowners; and explores effective, community-rooted remediation approaches. We will also develop political education tools to inform and engage impacted communities, build base-building infrastructure, and strengthen advocacy for land use policies that prioritize community health and ensure that we build social housing on remediated and safe land.

If our work is successful, Los Angeles will be a healthier, more just city where all housing is built on safe, remediated land. Los Angeles County will secure long-term funding for land remediation. Communities will be better informed about the health impacts of land contamination and pollutant industries in residential areas. Our work will secure public funding and policy changes that embed land remediation into all future development, especially in communities historically burdened by pollution. Residents will lead this transformation, driving decisions through coalitions rooted in racial, housing, and environmental justice. ACT–LA will build stronger partnerships with environmental justice organizations and coalitions, gaining knowledge on source polluters and effective remediation methods and sustainable building practices. As new social housing is developed in Los Angeles City and County, it will be built on remediated land—ensuring safe, healthy, and lasting homes for residents.