In the race for Los Angeles mayor, housing – and the closely linked issues of affordability, homelessness, economic opportunity, and safety – remains the central concern. Progressive City Councillor Nithya Raman, who narrowly defeated reality TV star Spencer Pratt to secure a spot in the November run-off, views the crisis as a self-inflicted problem for the city. She believes it can be mitigated through smarter policies that offer developers certainty, speed, and more building opportunities.
Scott Epstein, Policy Director at Abundant Housing L.A., commented on Raman's approach: “She sees that there are no silver bullets. I don't think anyone should be under the illusion that in year one of a Nithya Raman administration everything is going to turn around and we're going to suddenly see booming housing production. But I think if you look at the totality of her proposals, she's fundamentally changing the culture around housing production in the city. It means we'll be a city of ‘yes’.”
Focus on Permitting Process Reform
This YIMBY-friendly approach aligns with Raman's technocratic character. An MIT-trained urban planner and current chair of the City Council's Housing and Homelessness Committee, she has long been deeply involved in the city's housing debates. Should she be elected mayor, her powers to issue executive orders and restructure city departments could provide a promising start to a tenure founded on housing reforms.
David Garcia, assistant policy director at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California Berkeley, noted: “Building in any California city, especially in Los Angeles, is complex. A lot of the solutions are geared towards creating certainty through streamlining the process. The kinds of things she talks about in her housing platform very much address that issue.” Raman's campaign did not respond to requests for comment for this article by the time of publication. However, her policy blueprint promises to triple housing production and enable Los Angeles to “remain a city of opportunity that welcomes people who want to realise their dreams here.”
Homelessness remains a widespread problem, with 45,194 unhoused Angelenos according to the latest County data. The city is also significantly missing its state Regional Housing Needs Assessment target of 456,643 housing units by 2029. Last year, L.A. approved only 8,714 housing units, and the construction pipeline is shrinking, particularly for multi-family housing. Garcia remarked on this: “Both candidates are entering a situation where the city needs to make drastic changes relatively quickly to start making progress toward that large production goal.”
Raman's Vision: Acceleration and Deregulation
Raman's vision includes a comprehensive overhaul of zoning, including the creation of more high-rise neighbourhoods, encouraging more mid-segment housing projects, and adjusting zoning regulations in single-family neighbourhoods, especially to increase density near transport hubs.
- —Introducing a ‘shot clock’ to limit permitting delays.
- —Assigning single inspectors for most projects.
- —Establishing a self-certification programme.
- —Forming a Housing Board to expedite land use disputes without political interference.
- —Engaging a task force to accelerate utility cooperation and permits through the L.A. Department of Water and Power (LADWP).
Mott Smith, a founding member of the Council of Infill Builders, said the most common request he hears from developers is for better project planning and implementation by the LADWP. While speed is a major advantage, the true benefit of these kinds of improvements in urban housing bureaucracy lies in creating certainty, according to Garcia. Developers frequently complain about delays and long permitting cycles, which increase ongoing costs and can make construction more expensive.
