LOS ANGELES — Westchester resident, Jorge Gonzalez, is looking at the blueprints of a new housing plan for his westside neighborhood, and so far, he doesn’t like what he’s seeing.
“Up until six weeks ago, I was never looking at this, but now I’m studying the details,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez embodies what many consider the American dream. He immigrated here with his mother from Guatemala when he was 2 years old and grew up in a densely packed neighborhood in South Los Angeles.
“We initially landed in inner city Los Angeles. I lived in a single room with a shared bathroom and shared kitchen with my mom and my grandma,” he said.
After 50 years, Gonzalez said he was finally able to buy a single-family home in a quiet neighborhood, where he can now raise his son. But now, Gonzalez, and many of his neighbors, are worried that a new plan to add more housing in Westchester, will destroy his community.
Gonzalez’s concern isn’t so much with the city’s residential rezoning, which will use a new state law called Senate Bill 9, which went into effect in 2022, to split some single-family lots into duplexes and fourplexes. He’s instead concerned with the commercial rezoning, which he says will allow the city to construct mixed-use, high-rise buildings right next to his home.
“Once that upzoning takes place, on this lot which is about 8,000 square feet, a high-rise of up to 15 stories can be built,” Gonzalez said.
On Aug. 28, the Westchester senior center was packed to capacity with concerned residents, including Gonzalez, who were all asking the city to change their plan. Councilmember Traci Park, who represents this area, assured residents that she will take their concerns into consideration.
“This is a draft and the reason why I am here tonight is to personally hear from you,” Park said.
But there were also some folks in attendance who support the city’s plan, including longtime Westchester resident Peter Hodes, who said, “we don’t believe that it’s a perfect plan, however the basic principles are proper. There is a housing crisis which everybody is aware of, and so it’s time for Westchester to step up and play its part.”
Hodes said the folks who are against the city’s proposal aren’t doing their part to solve California’s housing crisis. But Gonzalez said he’s not against building new housing, he just believes there is a better approach, that the city hasn’t considered.
“There are ways, and we have counterproposals to actually build fair and equitable housing close to our area here, without destroying existing neighborhoods, without upzoning or rezoning any single-family lots,” Gonzalez said.
A vision that Gonzalez will keep fighting to preserve.