​Lack of Housing in Los Angeles Brings Activism, Art

Lack of Housing in Los Angeles Brings Activism, Art

洛杉矶缺乏住房带来了行动主义，艺术

【原文听力】

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　　By Dan Novak

　　07 November 2023

　　More and more of Judy Branfman's friends and neighbors found themselves unable to afford housing in Venice Beach, a neighborhood in Los Angeles.

　　So, Branfman began photographing the houses and apartments being sold, renovated, and then resold at two or three times the cost.

　　Branfman thought she should be recording the growing problem of evictions and housing in Venice Beach. The writer and activist was disappointed that Venice is losing what made it an interesting, artistic neighborhood to her.

　　Her photo project has gained some attention. Earlier this year, Branfman started hosting community meetings where residents could share their experiences with evictions that caused them to become homeless. Some people read poems. Others expressed themselves through paintings. They started gathering information on housing and evictions.

　　Branfman's idea to take a few photos became an art exhibit called "Where Has All The (affordable) Housing Gone?"

　　"The idea was to illustrate the problem, to show what we've lost," Branfman said.

　　Venice Beach became a center of the homelessness crisis during the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles. The nation's second-largest city has an estimated 46,000 people who are homeless in a population of 4 million people.

　　Venice Beach has been popular for the arts for a long time. But people noticed the difference between rich and poor there as technology companies moved in and people started building costly, modern homes.

　　The nonprofit group Angeleno Project said that about 80 percent of low-income Los Angeles renters pay over half their income toward housing costs.

　　At Branfman's exhibit, her photos are displayed on a large and detailed map. The map shows many of the nearly 1,500 rent-controlled homes she said have been lost from the housing market in Venice over 20 years. In some cases, the buildings were sold to large corporations that are buying up properties and increasing rents.

　　The map and the exhibit say part of the problem is a law called the Ellis Act. The 1985 California law gave apartment owners power to evict tenants in rent-controlled buildings for redevelopment. Owners can then later require higher rents for the same apartments. "Rent-controlled" means that rents are limited by law.

　　Branfman said she suffered because of the law when she was evicted from a Venice Beach apartment in 2003.

　　"Too many tenants are afraid to fight back. And most don't know what their rights are under the law," she said. Even when tenants do bring complaints, she said, the city very rarely deals with the claims.

　　Branfman and other housing activists are hopeful that change could come with a measure that will be voted on in 2024. The measure would expand local control by overturning a 28-year-old law that bans rent control on single-family homes, condominiums and rental properties that were built after 1995.

　　I'm Jill Robbins.

　　Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by The Associated Press.

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　　丹·诺瓦克

　　2023年11月7日

　　越来越多的朱迪·布兰夫曼的朋友和邻居发现他们不能提供洛杉矶威尼斯海滩的住宅区。

　　因此，布兰夫曼开始拍摄正在出售的房屋和公寓，修复，然后以两三倍的成本转卖。

　　布兰夫曼认为她应该记录下驱逐和威尼斯海滩的住房。这位作家和活动家感到失望的是，威尼斯正在失去对她来说是一个有趣、艺术的社区。

　　她的摄影项目已经获得了一些关注。今年早些时候，布兰夫曼开始主持社区会议居民可以分享他们因被驱逐而无家可归的经历。有些人读诗。其他人通过绘画来表达自己。他们开始收集关于住房和驱逐的信息。

　　布兰夫曼想拍几张照片的想法变成了一场名为“所有(经济适用房)都去哪儿了？”

　　“我们的想法是说明问题是，我们失去了什么，”布兰夫曼说。

　　在洛杉矶冠状病毒疫情期间，威尼斯海滩成为无家可归危机的中心。在这个美国第二大城市的400万人口中，估计有46，000人无家可归。

　　威尼斯海滩长期以来一直因艺术而受欢迎。但随着科技公司的进驻，人们开始建造昂贵的现代化住宅，人们注意到了那里的贫富差异。

　　非营利组织Angeleno Project表示，大约80%的低收入洛杉矶人佃户支付超过一半的费用收入住房成本。

　　在布兰夫曼的展览中，她的照片被展示在一幅大而详细的地图上。这张地图显示了她所说的近1500所租金控制房屋中的许多，这些房屋在威尼斯的房地产市场上已经消失了20多年。在某些情况下，这些建筑被出售给大公司，这些公司正在购买房产并提高租金。

　　地图和展览显示，部分问题在于一项名为《埃利斯法案》的法律。1985年加州法律赋予公寓业主驱逐权房客在租金控制的建筑中进行重新开发。业主随后可以要求同样的公寓支付更高的租金。“租控”是指租金受法律限制。

　　布兰夫曼说，2003年她被逐出威尼斯海滩公寓时，法律让她深受其害。

　　“太多租户不敢还手。大多数人不知道他们在法律下的权利，”她说。即使房客带来了抱怨她说，纽约市很少处理这种说法。

　　布兰夫曼和其他住房活动人士希望，2024年将投票表决的一项措施可能会带来变化。这项措施将通过推翻一项长达28年的法律来扩大地方控制，该法律禁止对1995年后建造的单户住宅、共管公寓和出租物业进行租金控制。

　　我是吉尔·罗宾斯。

　　丹·诺瓦克根据美联社的报道改编了这个故事。

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　　这个故事中的词语

　　afford –v. 有能力支付某物

　　renovate — v. 修缮和改善一处房产

　　eviction — n. 被迫离开一个地方，通常是你曾经居住过的地方

　　illustrate — v. 展示某物，通常通过图片

　　income — n. 工作挣来的钱，商业还是投资

　　tenant –n. 付钱给土地所有者在地产上生活或工作的人

　　complaint –n. 表示你对某个情况不满意，并希望对此采取措施的陈述