The Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) incentive program turns five this year. In that time, it’s become Los Angeles’s most effective housing-production tool, with more than 35,000 units proposed by developers including roughly 25% reserved for low-income households — all within ½-mile of high-quality transit service. The TOC program includes several innovative policies such as expedited approvals and encouraging the production of homes for extremely low-income households, but it’s also been criticized for lacking tenant protections and not applying to transit-accessible areas where multifamily housing is banned. On March 2nd, join us as our guests discuss lessons from the first five years of TOC, and where the program — and the city — are headed next.

Related publication: By Transit, By-Right: Impacts of Housing Development Approval Processes on Transit-Supportive Density

The Housing, Equity and Community Series is a joint UCLA endeavor by the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Ziman Center for Real Estate.

Featuring: 

MICHAEL MANVILLE is Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Both his research and teaching focus on the relationships between transportation and land use, and on local public finance. Much of his research concerns the tendency of local governments to hide the costs of driving in the property market, through land use restrictions intended to fight traffic congestion. These land use laws only sometimes reduce congestion, and can profoundly influence the supply and price of housing.

ALEX PRATT manages and oversees all aspects of development in Los Angeles and the surrounding counties, as well as Northern California and Texas from the company’s West Los Angeles office. His responsibilities encompass site acquisition, obtaining entitlements, feasibility analysis, project scheduling, securing public and private financing and overseeing construction and marketing. Mr. Pratthas focused on the revitalization of urban communities for the past 20 years working in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He has developed multifamily affordable, mixed-use, and transit-oriented housing, as well as single family homes. Mr. Pratt holds a Juris Doctorate and a Master of Real Estate Development degree from the University of Southern California and BA in Economics from the University of Michigan.

MATTHEW GLESNE is a Senior City Planner for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.  In this position he leads the Department’s Housing Policy Unit, which is responsible for developing various citywide housing related initiatives. He is currently heading the City’s update to the Housing Element and has recently led the development of the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) policy, the Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) affordable housing incentive program, the Home Sharing Ordinance, the Affordable Housing Linkage Fee, Permanent Supportive Housing Ordinance, as well as coordinating the implementation of state legislation. He has a Master’s Degree in Urban and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

LAURA RAYMOND is the Director of the Alliance for Community Transit- Los Angeles, where she directs the coalition’s strategic plans, budget, and staff. Over the last 20 years, she has been active in leading a wide range of campaigns, civil and human rights projects and has built and coordinated numerous social justice coalitions. Immediately prior to ACT-LA, she spent 6 years managing advocacy campaigns with the Center for Constitutional Rights. She holds a Master’s degree in Leadership and Management, with a concentration in Policy Advocacy from the School for International Training, and a BA in Community Studies from University of Santa Cruz.