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On July 15th, KIWA in association with the DataCenter released Reclaiming Koreatown, a report that presents current and future needs of neighborhood residents and analyzes the challenges facing the multi-ethnic, low-income Koreatown community.  This is the first report and survey of its kind since KIWA’s 2007 community needs assessment of Koreatown, Towards a Communtiy Agenda.

The report finds that 91% of residents believe Koreatown needs more affordable housing and the vast majority is concerned about rent increases, unaffordable developments and displacement from Koreatown.  The report includes testimony and profiles of local residents and the results of a community-wide survey.  The conclusion of the report calls for development that is accountable to the Koreatown resident community and puts forth a set of principles for improving housing affordability and economic well-being. 

“This report presents a snapshot of community needs and perspectives on community development that is not well-represented in current policy discussions.  This report should guide responsible developers and decision-makers, including our elected leaders, to consider the real needs of this community and to act with urgency,” said Danny Park, KIWA Executive Director.

For the thousands of low-income residents of Los Angeles’s Koreatown, the economic hardships brought on by the recent subprime mortgage housing and financial crises are not new.  In the words of a Koreatown resident, “…the housing ‘crisis’ has been a crisis for us for a long time.”  Well before the current recession, Koreatown residents were complaining of increased housing costs due to the influx of upscale luxury housing units that replaced affordable housing units.  The 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession caused yet another set of problems for Koreatown.  The slowing of the real estate market caused a decline in home prices, but housing costs for most Koreatown residents remain exorbitant.  In the meantime, the recession has caused a loss of construction and retail jobs and other employment opportunities, creating “a crisis upon crisis” for immigrant workers in the neighborhood. 

Rent increases, the reduction of affordable housing, displacement, unaffordable new businesses, an increase in traffic, and a decrease in parking are among top concerns, with up to 90% of surveyed residents expressing concern about these issues.  Current residents overwhelmingly support responsible development policies and want to stay in their community.  Reclaiming Koreatown suggests that Koreatown’s well-being and revival will require an investment in current residents, by supporting and preserving existing community resources, and building and maintaining affordable housing for the majority of Koreatown’s workers and families.

Despite hardship, the Koreatown resident community maintains hope.  In the words of Javier Gutierrez, a seven-year resident of Koreatown, “We can gain more possibilities to live well and be taken into consideration in what is constructed; we are human and we have the rich potential to fight for what we need.” 

KIWA is a worker center, founded in 1992, that organizes to empower low-income immigrant workers in Koreatown.  KIWA’s current campaign advocates for the preservation and increase of affordable housing for the neighborhood’s low-income community.