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| Balloons project takes off as Los Angeles neighbourhoods resist gentrification | Balloons project takes off as Los Angeles neighbourhoods resist gentrification |
| (5 months later) | |
| The trees at Carondelet Court are all gone now. Fences now surround the vacant cottages, and angry red spray paint marks the Los Angeles plot as condemned. But above the wrought-iron gate, a dozen colourful balloons float. | The trees at Carondelet Court are all gone now. Fences now surround the vacant cottages, and angry red spray paint marks the Los Angeles plot as condemned. But above the wrought-iron gate, a dozen colourful balloons float. |
| The balloon project is the brainchild of artist Anne Hars, who is installing them on “small-lot” plots, most of which currently hold cottage-style houses that are often rent-controlled and occupied by low-income households. All are set to be demolished to make way for much larger, high-density luxury housing developments. | The balloon project is the brainchild of artist Anne Hars, who is installing them on “small-lot” plots, most of which currently hold cottage-style houses that are often rent-controlled and occupied by low-income households. All are set to be demolished to make way for much larger, high-density luxury housing developments. |
| The idea was inspired by the Pixar movie Up, in which an elderly man’s house, surrounded by more and more and larger and larger developments, is lifted up into the sky by hundreds of balloons. | The idea was inspired by the Pixar movie Up, in which an elderly man’s house, surrounded by more and more and larger and larger developments, is lifted up into the sky by hundreds of balloons. |
| Hars, working with local neighbourhood groups, is affixing balloons to dozens of houses slated for redevelopment. | Hars, working with local neighbourhood groups, is affixing balloons to dozens of houses slated for redevelopment. |
| The areas west of downtown Los Angeles – Chinatown, Silverlake, Echo Park – are seeing unprecedented rises in housing value, while the median household wage remains stagnant well below the national average, leaving many lower-income families unable to pay rent if they aren’t in rent-controlled buildings. Nearby towns with separate municipal governments such as Santa Monica or Long Beach have strict rules governing new developments and evictions, but Los Angeles does not. | The areas west of downtown Los Angeles – Chinatown, Silverlake, Echo Park – are seeing unprecedented rises in housing value, while the median household wage remains stagnant well below the national average, leaving many lower-income families unable to pay rent if they aren’t in rent-controlled buildings. Nearby towns with separate municipal governments such as Santa Monica or Long Beach have strict rules governing new developments and evictions, but Los Angeles does not. |
| So, when the owner of Carondelet Court sold the plot, the new landlord, Steve Kanji, was free to set about pushing the tenants out so they could demolish it to build a similar development to the one they have already built next door; a slate grey, slab-sided five-storey behemoth. | So, when the owner of Carondelet Court sold the plot, the new landlord, Steve Kanji, was free to set about pushing the tenants out so they could demolish it to build a similar development to the one they have already built next door; a slate grey, slab-sided five-storey behemoth. |
| Tenants had to sign new leases and one day, people came and cut down all the trees, ripping out the garden by its roots. Their new building manager told the tenants – low-income families mostly occupied the cottages – that pets were no longer allowed. One cottage housed a daycare center for the local kids; despite having all the requisite permits, the new landlord told them they had to go. | Tenants had to sign new leases and one day, people came and cut down all the trees, ripping out the garden by its roots. Their new building manager told the tenants – low-income families mostly occupied the cottages – that pets were no longer allowed. One cottage housed a daycare center for the local kids; despite having all the requisite permits, the new landlord told them they had to go. |
| “In the beginning, all of us were together as tenants,” said Tiger Munson, who has lived at Carondelet Court for 17 years. “Then, they filed lawsuits against some of us, but not others. Divide and conquer.” | “In the beginning, all of us were together as tenants,” said Tiger Munson, who has lived at Carondelet Court for 17 years. “Then, they filed lawsuits against some of us, but not others. Divide and conquer.” |
| One of the tenants, a man Munson knew as Daniel, left. Munson didn’t know where he went until he ran into him recently outside a grocery store, living rough on the streets. Another family, who had lived in one of the cottages for 22 years, left abruptly. Besides Munson, only two other units are occupied in the eight-unit property. | One of the tenants, a man Munson knew as Daniel, left. Munson didn’t know where he went until he ran into him recently outside a grocery store, living rough on the streets. Another family, who had lived in one of the cottages for 22 years, left abruptly. Besides Munson, only two other units are occupied in the eight-unit property. |
| “They know what they’re doing,” he said of the new landlords. “They push people to the edge and know no one’s going to do anything.” | “They know what they’re doing,” he said of the new landlords. “They push people to the edge and know no one’s going to do anything.” |
| They know what they’re doing. They push people to the edge and know no one's going to do anything | They know what they’re doing. They push people to the edge and know no one's going to do anything |
| Munson, an artist and a teacher, tried to fight the development by applying for historical monument status – the complex is 100 years old and was built by a developer who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. But when the inspector arrived from the city, Munson said, the new landlord’s son denied him entry. | Munson, an artist and a teacher, tried to fight the development by applying for historical monument status – the complex is 100 years old and was built by a developer who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright. But when the inspector arrived from the city, Munson said, the new landlord’s son denied him entry. |
| The Silverlake neighbourhood council is helping to fund Hars’s balloon project. Jerome Courshon, a member of the council’s governing board, said that “unfortunately, Silverlake and a few other neighbourhoods are very hot right now”. The council is only advisory; they have no way of stopping the developments if the city, which has always been developer-friendly, approves them. Developers are big donors to council campaigns – often controversially so. | The Silverlake neighbourhood council is helping to fund Hars’s balloon project. Jerome Courshon, a member of the council’s governing board, said that “unfortunately, Silverlake and a few other neighbourhoods are very hot right now”. The council is only advisory; they have no way of stopping the developments if the city, which has always been developer-friendly, approves them. Developers are big donors to council campaigns – often controversially so. |
| Representatives for the development company Hars first protested against, Urban Blox – whose tagline is “Designed with Love in Los Angeles” – did not respond to requests for comment. | Representatives for the development company Hars first protested against, Urban Blox – whose tagline is “Designed with Love in Los Angeles” – did not respond to requests for comment. |
| Omario Kanji, the son of Munson’s new landlord, said on Tuesday that he and his organisation “are paying above legal compensation and we’re following the law”. | Omario Kanji, the son of Munson’s new landlord, said on Tuesday that he and his organisation “are paying above legal compensation and we’re following the law”. |
| “I really don’t know why you’re calling about this,” he added. “This is a transaction that happens every day in this country … no one likes being in any of the positions any of us are in, including myself, but I don’t think of this as a big splash.” | “I really don’t know why you’re calling about this,” he added. “This is a transaction that happens every day in this country … no one likes being in any of the positions any of us are in, including myself, but I don’t think of this as a big splash.” |
| When Hars’s husband was bedridden by an injury in 2012, she said, her neighbours rallied round and helped her, in particular one family, the Arias. When the Arias, who have a severely disabled son, were evicted to make way for a development on Hars’s block, it was their battle to stay that led to Hars’s involvement in fighting developers and the balloons project. | When Hars’s husband was bedridden by an injury in 2012, she said, her neighbours rallied round and helped her, in particular one family, the Arias. When the Arias, who have a severely disabled son, were evicted to make way for a development on Hars’s block, it was their battle to stay that led to Hars’s involvement in fighting developers and the balloons project. |
| Those supporting her project have a variety of reasons for doing so. Some, like Munson, are being forced out of their homes. Courshon and others are worried about irreversible changes to the texture and character of the neighbourhood; higher-density housing means more cars, more crowded sidewalks, and more pressure on local schools. The architecture of the new buildings is also, Courshon said, “horrible”. | Those supporting her project have a variety of reasons for doing so. Some, like Munson, are being forced out of their homes. Courshon and others are worried about irreversible changes to the texture and character of the neighbourhood; higher-density housing means more cars, more crowded sidewalks, and more pressure on local schools. The architecture of the new buildings is also, Courshon said, “horrible”. |
| At the hanging of one set of balloons on Monday in Silverlake, the ritual took on a funereal air as residents looked at the drawings for the vast, multi-unit three-storey apartment block proposed to replace the modest bungalow. | At the hanging of one set of balloons on Monday in Silverlake, the ritual took on a funereal air as residents looked at the drawings for the vast, multi-unit three-storey apartment block proposed to replace the modest bungalow. |
| Local groups across Los Angeles have been contacting Hars with new sites on which to install balloons – there are 25 currently on her list, which is growing every day. For her, the developers have taken on the status of “war profiteers”. One of the groups she works with has co-opted the acronym “Nimby”, which stands for “Not In My Back Yard” and is often used as a derogatory term for those who resist local change. | Local groups across Los Angeles have been contacting Hars with new sites on which to install balloons – there are 25 currently on her list, which is growing every day. For her, the developers have taken on the status of “war profiteers”. One of the groups she works with has co-opted the acronym “Nimby”, which stands for “Not In My Back Yard” and is often used as a derogatory term for those who resist local change. |
| “[But] I don’t want people thrown out on to the streets in my backyard,” Hars said. “If that makes me a Nimby, then I’m a Nimby.” | “[But] I don’t want people thrown out on to the streets in my backyard,” Hars said. “If that makes me a Nimby, then I’m a Nimby.” |