Ben Christopher

5 days ago | kqed.org | Ben Christopher

Jun 1Failed to save articlePlease try againA fleet of Muni buses in San Francisco on April 6, 2020. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)The northern tip of the Vermont Square neighborhood in South Los Angeles gentrified in many of the usual ways over the last decade. Median incomes shot up. The neighborhood’s share of Black residents declined. On the list of fastest growing home prices across the region, Vermont Square cracked the top ten.

1 week ago | oregoncapitalchronicle.com | Ben Christopher

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The homes in the half-built subdivision look a lot like all the others nestled up against the parched, shrubby hills of Escondido, north San Diego County. But look a little closer. The gutters and vents are enclosed in a thin, wire mesh. Each window is double-paned, the glass tempered to withstand the heat of a wildfire, the stucco around the shutters resistant to flame.

1 week ago | capradio.org | Ben Christopher |Dai Sugano

By Ben Christopher, CalMattersThis story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.​The northern tip of the Vermont Square neighborhood in South Los Angeles gentrified in many of the usual ways over the last decade. Median incomes shot up. The neighborhood’s share of Black residents declined. On the list of fastest growing home prices across the region,Vermont Square cracked the top ten.Along Western Avenue, new apartment buildings popped up as visible markers of change.

1 week ago | mercurynews.com | Ben Christopher

By Ben Christopher, CalMattersMedian incomes shot up. The neighborhood’s share of Black residents declined. On the list of fastest growing home prices across the region, Vermont Square cracked the top ten. Along Western Avenue, new apartment buildings popped up as visible markers of change. But there is a less obvious, if no less profound, marker: Fewer people began riding the bus.

1 week ago | messenger-inquirer.com | Ben Christopher |Marisa Kendall

Sacramento, CA (CalMatters)President Donald Trump's budget proposal in its present form would have huge effects on housing and homelessness in California. On Friday President Trump released a budget blueprint for the next fiscal year that would take a chainsaw to social, environmental and education programs. Some of the sharpest cuts are directed at housing programs that are meant to serve the poor, housing insecure and unhoused.