Rent strikes make a comeback in tight housing markets

Oct 1, 2018
In cities where a housing shortage is driving up rents, some residents are withholding theirs to protest poor conditions.
Striking Westlake tenants march through their neighborhood in late July.
Matt Tinoco/LAist

California bail industry grapples with fallout from a new law

Sep 27, 2018
Starting next year, a judge, not ability to pay bail, will decide who remains jailed in the state before trial.
Bail companies posted nearly $1.75 billion in surety bonds with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County from May 2016 to May 2017, a recent report found. Above, an employee at Gotham Bail Bonds near downtown Los Angeles walks to her desk.
Benjamin Gottlieb/Marketplace

First, LA welcomes subway body scanners. Next, a major city near you?

Sep 17, 2018
Questions loom about the new technology, like whether it has potential to keep travelers safe, or if it's just security theater.
Officers tested out the mobile units during a demonstration at Los Angeles Union Station. 
Sasa Woodruff/Marketplace

Los Angeles demands more accountability from its banks

Aug 13, 2018
Last month , LA took on predatory and high-pressure sales goals at major banks by tightening its responsible banking ordinance. Now, if a bank wants the city’s $17 million taxpayer-funded contracts, it must be transparent about sales goal tactics and employee compensation, and it can’t retaliate against whistleblowers who report suspected illegal bank activity. Bank reform advocates […]
A Wells Fargo sign is seen on the exterior of one of their bank branches on September 9, 2016 in Miami, Florida. 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

California will be a battleground for the rent control debate this November

Jul 10, 2018
According to a poll, 60 percent of California voters favor limits on how much landlords can charge.
A "For Rent" sign is seen on a building Hollywood, California, May 11, 2016.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Street vending may be legal in Los Angeles by summer's end

Jun 22, 2018
But one person's vending cart is a brick-and-mortar shop's competition.
A street vendor sells fruit in Los Angeles in 2017. It's the only major U.S. city where street vending is illegal.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Why would a former investment banker want to run Los Angeles schools?

May 4, 2018
Austin Beutner is a former investment banker, deputy mayor and publisher. We asked him about what he brings to LAUSD.
“Schools don't have a bottom line, but that doesn't mean you can't measure and hold accountable,” Austin Beutner says. Above, he attends the Alliance for Children's Rights 25th Anniversary Celebration in Beverly Hills, California.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

LA seeks permanent solution to homeless encampments

Apr 26, 2018
Los Angeles’ homeless population grew by more than 20 percent last year, and three-fourths of that population lives outdoors.
A woman passes a wheelchair-bound homeless man on Spring Street on May 1, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. 
David McNew/Getty Images

Back in the '60s traffic in LA was so light a traveling circus clown could cross town in 20 minutes. So what happened?

Apr 24, 2018
In LA, sitting in and complaining about traffic is a way of life. But the congestion is also a sign of a thriving economy.
Arroyo Seco Parkway soon after opening, 1940.
Automobile Club of Southern California Archives