Liam Dillon
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Liam Dillon
@liamjdillon.com
6.5K followers 300 following 440 posts
Covering housing in Los Angeles and California for POLITICO.
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A good reminder that California's affordable housing regime requires PLANNING for low-income housing and not CONSTRUCTION of low-income housing. (Obviously, some reasonable reasons for this, but for all the heat that housing element conversations get they don't mean housing gets built.)
Screenshot of article saying Coronado agrees to support affordable housing after state pressure. Screenshot of article saying Coronado has not built any affordable housing.
July 16, 2025 at 5:05 PM
liamjdillon.com
Six months after January's fires, 8% of homeowners in Pacific Palisades have applied for permits to rebuild www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
Graphic showing increasing permit applications weekly in Pacific Palisades
July 10, 2025 at 4:36 PM
liamjdillon.com
Why is this happening? Yes, labor and material prices have risen. But numerous factors within the control of state and local governments — environmental and labor mandates, parking requirements, lengthy approval processes, and byzantine financing all play a major role.
A key driver of the increases is labor and material prices, which have soared because of inflation, supply-chain problems and worker shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a Times investigation published in 2020 found numerous factors within the control of state and local governments also to blame for the high cost of building affordable housing in California. A man stands in a low-income housing complex being rehabbed in San Francisco. Julio Lara of Mission Housing Development stands in a low-income housing complex being rehabbed on Great Highway in San Francisco. (Paul Kuroda / For The Times) In comparison with private sector development, low-income housing is often saddled with more stringent environmental and labor standards. Affordable housing projects also frequently face high parking requirements, lengthy local approval processes and a byzantine bureaucracy to secure financing.
June 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM
liamjdillon.com
When I say "elaborate tree house" I mean 6-foot by 3-foot, 28 feet in the air in an ash tree:
The structure has been visible from the street for weeks. Flores had attached a sign to the front with a message calling for a citywide rent strike. The tree house is elaborate. Flores used galvanized steel braces to attach a series of ladders to the ash tree’s trunk. Where the trunk narrowed higher in the tree, Flores bolted spikes into the bark to make the final few steps into the structure. Inside the tree house and hanging on nearby branches were blankets, warm clothing, food, water and his medication. To keep things clean, there’s a wooden broom he can sweep out leaves and other detritus. Flores expected to charge his phone via an extension cord connected to electricity in the garage. He bolted a chair to the bottom of the tree house and has a safety belt to catch him should he fall.
June 3, 2025 at 10:35 PM
liamjdillon.com
Aside from my Big Take, a little bit of news in my story. One of the major CEQA reform proposals could include a set aside for labor standards in the final deal
Wicks said her bill will not require developers to reserve part of their projects for low-income housing to receive a CEQA exemption; cities can mandate that on their own, she said. Wicks indicated, however, that labor standards could be part of a final deal, saying she’s “had some conversations in that regard.”
June 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
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Rent is climbing faster in neighborhoods near January's wildfires than elsewhere in Los Angeles — roughly 3 percentage point difference — @latimes.com analysis found www.latimes.com/california/s...
Graphic showing higher rent increases in burn areas
May 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
liamjdillon.com
Check out my new story. It's about: www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
Vince McMahon meme. Municipal permitting, after major wildfires, with artificial intelligence, quoting Mandy Moore
May 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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Very cute when a city issues a Certificate of Occupancy that's actually a Certificate
Image of a certificate of occupancy
May 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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Armen Tamzarian, the Los Angeles County judge in the infamous Simpsons Principal Skinner episode, got a promotion today.
Judge Armen Tamzarian, of Los Angeles County, has been nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Four. He has served as a Judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 2013. Judge Tamzarian was a lead appellate court attorney at the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three from 2008 to 2013. He was an associate and later a partner at Case, Knowlson, Jordan & Wright LLP from 1997 to 2008. He was a research attorney at the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1996 to 1997. Judge Tamzarian received a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School. Pending her confirmation, he will fill the vacancy created by the elevation of Justice Helen Zukin to Presiding Justice. This position requires confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Senior Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert. Judge Tamzarian is a Democrat.
May 7, 2025 at 11:38 PM
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LACAHSA is meeting this afternoon. At the beginning, Board Chair and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson acknowledged our story and gave a brief statement that didn't speak specifically to questions about interim CEO Ryan Johnson's background:
“As reported, interim CEO Ryan Johnson informed me that he will not seek the permanent CEO role. We want to thank Mr. Johnson for his contributions during the cost critical launch phase, and respect his decision. Our commitment is to find a permanent CEO of the highest caliber. The board of directors will conduct a rigorous, detailed, transparent search process. We understand how critical the agency's mission is at a time when we see funding cuts at the state and federal levels of government, the public deserves an agency that reflects the values of honesty, service and results.”
April 16, 2025 at 8:35 PM
liamjdillon.com
Deleted the below post on the governor and a federal court hearing on homelessness. Our story was incorrect. The judge made a request for the governor to appear at a future hearing not the one last week.
Deleted bluesky post on the governor not appearing at a federal court hearing on homelessness
April 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM
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Continue to be impressed by the dissonance between Trump’s HUD secretaries calling out government restrictions against building affordable housing but maintaining that overturning single-family zoning is an assault on America’s suburbs www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...
Quote by Scott turner on govt restrictions on housing
March 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
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The permit: x.com/alexisxrivas...
Screenshot of post on X showing permit received by Palisades homeowner
March 27, 2025 at 11:14 PM
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Housing Neologism Alert! San Diego homeowner activist says: "Alligators are overbuilt and dangerous ADU projects that are disrupting our neighborhoods and pitting neighbor against neighbor."

Plus a flagrant violation of the ban against new -IMBY terms. And an lol at "THIS IS A FREE EVENT." Perfect
Alligators are overbuilt and dangerous ADU projects that are disrupting our neighborhoods and pitting neighbor against neighbor. This is not a NIMBY vs YIMBY event or debate. It is a LIMBY (Look In My Back Yard) and decide for yourself, event. *Please note: Not all ADU projects are Alligators. Many have, and are, being built responsibly where owners, builders, and LLCs have taken care to remain as conforming to their neighborhoods as humanly possible. Those type of units are not disrupting our neighborhoods, blocking views, or lack to provide ample parking for their tenants. Neither I, nor anyone else will be speech-making at the event, This is not an opportunity for either side of the ADU debate to push an agenda. This is a “meet and greet” opportunity for everyone to view the project and make up their own minds. THIS IS A FREE EVENT
March 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
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Huge support among Los Angeles County voters — including in fire zones — for stronger building codes and restricting homebuilding in high-risk areas, according to our new poll. www.latimes.com/california/s...
Graphic showing 80% support for stronger building codes; 70% support for restricting growth in high-risk fire areas.
March 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
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Diving into @brian-goldstone.bsky.social’s new book on homelessness
Coffee shop with There Is No Place For Us book
March 9, 2025 at 6:31 PM
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A board member of billionaire developer Rick Caruso's wildfire recovery foundation — Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale — compared the idea adding low-income housing in Pacific Palisades to building "a new crack den" in the neighborhood. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who lost the 2022 mayoral election to Bass and started a nonprofit foundation for wildfire recovery, has said that while he’s broadly supported affordable housing, the push to expand it in the Palisades is coming from “external interests” and would be detrimental to reconstruction efforts. “Now is not the time for outside groups with no ties to the area to slow down the ability of people to rebuild their homes by trying to impose their agenda,” Caruso said. A board member of Caruso’s wildfire foundation, Steadfast LA, went further. Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of data-mining company Palantir, has mocked the prospect of bringing affordable housing to the Palisades on social media platform X, posting a screenshot of a headline suggesting that the city may mandate it. “Sorry guys, no rebuilding your fancy houses that burned down by the ocean in LA until there’s a new crack den installed right in the middle of the neighborhood,” Lonsdale wrote. Joe Lonsdale post: "Sorry guys, no rebuilding your fancy houses that burned down by the ocean in LA until there’s a new crack den installed right in the middle of the neighborhood."
March 3, 2025 at 6:59 PM
liamjdillon.com
One of the amazing things about Donald Shoup is that he readily acknowledged his central argument — free parking is bad, actually — was very unpopular. He began a 2006 paper with this legendary Seinfeld quote comparing paid parking to prostitution. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
Introduction My father didn’t pay for parking, my mother, my brother, nobody. It's like going to a prostitute. Why should I pay when, if I apply myself, maybe I can get it for free. George Costanza
February 13, 2025 at 11:01 PM
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The 2018 Woolsey Fire destroyed George Hauptman's Malibu home. He wants to rebuild.

New fire codes required the Hauptmans to have more water storage. But the city says the new water tank is too close to his neighbor's property. So he can't legally move into his house www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
George Hauptman remains tied in knots by his situation. Hauptman and his wife have lived in Malibu since the mid-1970s when they purchased land and built a house in the hills overlooking Broad Beach. The Woolsey Fire destroyed it. They pursued a disaster relief waiver and have now fully rebuilt their home down to bolting in the numbers in their address above the exterior entryway. Yet the city has not issued a certificate of occupancy for the Hauptmans to move in. New fire codes required them to provide more water storage at this house than the previous one. So they bought a bigger water tank, and put it where it best fit. But the city told him the spot straddled the property line with his neighbor. After Hauptman hired a surveyor to prove the tank was on his land, the city said its location still violated setback restrictions. Hauptman refuses to apply for a potentially costly and time-consuming zoning waiver for the tank. He and the city are at a stalemate. The process, Hauptman said, has made him feel like “an eddy in a river.” “You just circle around and circle around and circle around,” said Hauptman, 77. “We’re older people and these things just drive you crazy.” Without a permit for their fully rebuilt home, the Hauptmans have been living in a nearby studio apartment and staying at their new house “a little more often than we should.”
February 12, 2025 at 8:27 PM
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More than six years after the Woolsey Fire devastated Malibu, fewer than 40% of the homes destroyed have been rebuilt. Some property owners remain stuck in the web of permitting rules tangling building along the coast. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
Graphic showing that fewer than 40% of homes have been rebuilt in Malibu after the 2018 Woolsey Fire
February 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
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Mike Kobeissi, the agent charged with price gouging, vigorously denies any illegal activity.

He said that the listing price increase came after he found that the house was in the La Canada Flintridge school district. He said the house is now rented under market. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...
Kobeissi said in an interview that he did not engage in price gouging and the charges are misplaced. He said he increased the price from $8,700 a month to $12,000 after confirming that the home was within the boundaries of the well-regarded La Cañada Flintridge school district. The higher price, Kobeissi said, was comparable to other rentals in the neighborhood. “It had nothing to do with the fires or anything,” Kobeissi said. Kobeissi said he received offers from prospective tenants for $14,000 and $16,000, but he and the property owner decided to rent it for under $10,000 to fire victims. The owner also provide a free month of rent and furniture, Kobeissi said. “Right now, the home is rented way below the market,” he said. On his website, Kobeissi describes himself as one of the top Realtors in La Cañada Flintridge with more than 25 years of experience. His firm has sold homes in the community for as much as $11 million, the site says. The charges against him are damaging to his reputation and belie his efforts to support the community in the wake of the disasters, he said. Yesterday, he said he hosted a dozen firefighters at his house for lunch. “I’ve been helping people one after another,” Kobeissi said.
January 22, 2025 at 11:31 PM
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Ok!
Ad for the first perfume named by whales
January 18, 2025 at 9:46 PM
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Despite anti-gouging laws, we're finding examples of huge increases for available apartments in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires. An Encino landlord raised the price of their four-bedroom listing by 28% to $11,500 a month until my colleague called them. www.latimes.com/california/s...
One property that has seen rent change is a four-bedroom house on Dellvale Place in Encino. According to Zillow, the property was being advertised for $9,000 a month on Jan. 3. Then, following the fires and the state of emergency, the asking rent on the listing changed, rising nearly 28% to $11,500. In a phone interview Thursday, listing agent Soheila Mirfakhrai said she didn’t feel comfortable increasing the price, but the owner told her to do so without offering an explanation why. She said she did not know about the price gouging law. After Mirfakhrai spoke with The Times by phone, the price was lowered to $9,800 — an increase of nearly 8.9% from the Jan. 3 asking rent. “He agreed to bring the price down,” Mirfakhrai said in a text. “I told him that was not right and I would quit.”
January 11, 2025 at 4:16 PM
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We’re awaiting the president and Gov. Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica firehouse for a briefing on LA wildfires
January 8, 2025 at 6:56 PM
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they just changed it so that it automatically reserves! bsky.social/about/blog/4...
Update as of December 12, 2024: If you change your default Bluesky username (with the .bsky.social suffix) to a website URL, your old .bsky.social username will be reserved for you. You no longer need to create a second account to reserve your most recent .bsky.social username. For every account, only your most recent .bsky.social username is reserved for you, and this reservation does not expire.
December 28, 2024 at 9:58 PM