Only a year ago the little gray and yellow house on 35th Place was nestled among similar early 20th century homes interspersed with a few postwar apartments. Today it is flanked on one side by two four-story buildings and on the other by three buildings under construction. Scenes like that are playing out on almost every block in the neighborhood west of the USC campus.
has been talking to USC about development around USC for the last 20 years, sort of knowing that this was coming based on some of the signs we’ve been seeing for a long time.' The transformation is moving so swiftly that almost any random block has construction in progress on one or two lots, a recently completed building or two and a boarded-up house with a demolition notice posted on a construction fence.
has surveyed one block of 36th Place three times, in 1999, 2009 and last year, working with students of USC sociology professor Leland Saito. 'Even between 1999 and 2009 you were already seeing this massive displacement of community members,' Strathmann said. Last year's survey found only one person living on the block who was not a student.
thinks a broader approach is needed. Among other things, she said, displaced tenants should have an immediate right of return to housing somewhere else in the neighborhood, and builders should be required to create larger bedrooms. 'How about you replace it with the same size rooms, so families can live there,' she said.