We can end homelessness now
Dana Cuff is UCLA professor of architecture and urban design and director of the award-winning design research center cityLAB. Since receiving her Ph.D. from Berkeley, Cuff has published and lectured widely about spatial justice, the architectural profession and affordable housing. She is a recent recipient of prestigious awards for her leadership as an activist (2019, Architectural Record), educator (2020, AIA Los Angeles) and researcher (2020, Architectural Research Centers Consortium).
Dana Cuff "Heading into 2021, Los Angeles faces two hard truths about its homeless crisis: It’s bad, and it’s going to get worse. That’s why, when the Forward brought together four experts on the subject for a Dec. 15 Zoom discussion, I just wanted to focus on solutions. We know it’s bad— what can we do, now, to make it better?...
How many homeless people could we house on all this property, I asked Dana Cuff, a professor of architecture, urban design and urban planning at UCLA and director of citylab, an award-winning think tank that advances experimental urbanism and architecture.
“We could easily house the 70,000 people who are unsheltered now,” she said. “It’s not a land shortage. It’s a matter of conviction."...
The longer-term solutions aren’t all that mysterious either: more housing. Cuff co-authored the 2017 state law that eased regulations on building Accessory Dwelling Units, so called granny flats, that could create thousands of new homes at relatively low cost on existing residential property...
“The most important thing we can do now is prevent more people from falling into homelessness when all of those evictions come around,” said Cuff."— Rob Eshman, Dec. 17, 2020
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Forward website.
Read more about Dana Cuff.
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