The October 2021 issue of National Geographic magazine has a major article on Black homeownership. It says: “A typical … white family’s wealth is eight times that of a typical black family - a legacy of bias in housing.” The article makes clear the enormous benefits of black homeownership.
Homeownership enforces saving, builds wealth through appreciation and creates multigenerational stability and community.
It is vital that Santa Monica builds affordable condos for sale, with income restriction covenants. This will allow everyone to create wealth and will level the playing field with the rich, who are the only ones who can afford to buy in Santa Monica.
Those families displaced when the 10 freeway was built may well have been homeowners, and now Santa Monica plans to offer them rentals. This reinforces the initial property taking and continues the pattern of poverty and dependency.
Affordable renting is just renting, and leads nowhere - the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. To close that gap the poor need to own property. The city must make ownership a primary goal for all classes of residents, especially the poor.
Peter Borresen, Santa Monica.
