Santa Monica prioritizes housing for households displaced by urban renewal policies

The program gives priority to city-funded housing and inclusionary housing for up to 100 displaced households or their descendants — children or grandchildren. It follows a 2019 decision to explore the possibility of providing housing access to displaced residents.

The city of Santa Monica has launched a pilot program that gives priority to the city’s affordable housing waitlist to households displaced by urban renewal policies of the 1950s and ‘60s. The program follows a 2019 decision to explore the possibility of providing housing access to residents forcibly relocated by the creation of the Civic Auditorium in the Belmar Triangle neighborhood and the I-10 freeway in the Pico neighborhood.

“With this pilot, we strive to reach former residents or their descendants who were wrongly displaced from our community and to bring them back to Santa Monica through our affordable housing program,” stated Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “If you or your family lost your home during this period, we urge you to apply for below-market housing opportunities and to work with us as we look to craft a permanent program.”   

The federal government’s urban renewal policy first took shape with the G.I. Bill and the Housing Act of 1949. The Act was supposed to provide federal loans to cities to acquire and develop “blighted” urban neighborhoods. In practice, officials were more interested in commercial redevelopment. The 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act further disadvantaged urban neighborhoods by building highways through existing communities, fracturing neighborhoods and degrading their tax bases.

These projects dislocated over a million Americans, mostly from nonwhite communities. Moreover, the practice largely benefited wealthier, white suburbanites, who enjoyed faster commutes, new offices, better universities and hospitals, affordable homes, and increased entertainment options. Displaced communities were forced into less desirable, cramped, and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.   

"That whole community, predominantly African American residents, were uprooted, and their homes later...burned to the ground. To me, that was sending a message,” said Robbie Jones, a 63-year-old Santa Monica activist and historian.  

Santa Monica's new program aims to partially correct this injustice by giving priority to city-funded housing and inclusionary housing for up to 100 displaced households or descendants of households — children or grandchildren. This new category is second only to residents who have been or will be displaced from their homes due to a natural disaster, a government action, removal permit eviction, owner occupancy, Ellis Act, or a mobile home park closure.

Throughout the pilot, the city will test and evaluate outreach strategies, applicant demand, the availability of historical documentation, verification processes, compliance with governing legislation, and the administrative resources required to implement a broader program. The city is focused on outreach through the end of the year. “We will be leveraging a broad outreach strategy that will encompass both grassroots and digital outreach,” noted Public Information Officer Constance Farrell. “We’ll be working with longtime residents who have deep roots in the community to support us in reaching impacted households."

Crucially, the city also reduced the minimum number of work hours required to qualify for waitlist prioritization as a Santa Monica worker — currently third on the list — from 36 hours per week to 25 hours per week. This change widens access to Santa Monica workers who are not employed full-time. 

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