Housing & Economic Development

Council District Seven is a district with a strong mix of residential and industrial development. With a long community history and having seen a tremendous amount of activity as the City of Los Angeles grew, the Northeast San Fernando Valley has been challenged in regards to community planning and ensuring residents are not unduly burdened by industrial development. 

Councilmember Alarcón knows that one of his main responsibilities is to spur good development, ensure that residents are protected and create job opportunities.  In the Seventh Council District there are all kinds of opportunities, as well as challenges, that Councilmember Alarcón is tackling to improve the lives of all those who live in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

Specific projects that he is working on include:

The CRA " Vision" For The Northeast San Fernando Valley

Upon taking office, Councilmember Alarcón introduced a motion that began the process of having the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) create a Master Plan for the continued redevelopment of the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

As he said at the time, “The time has come for the Northeast San Fernando Valley to have a coherent and community-driven vision for its future.  Pacoima, Sun Valley, Sylmar and Panorama City are some of the most under-planned areas in the city. Now is the time to create integrated, vibrant and pedestrian-friendly commercial districts along Van Nuys Blvd and San Fernando Road. We need all stakeholders to participate in the creation of the Master Plan for the project area, so we can make our land use decisions based on a holistic vision, not on a project-by-project basis.”

The creation of the Master Plan will be funded by CRA/LA resources earmarked specifically for the Northeast San Fernando Valley’s CRA/LA project area, which includes both Council District 6 and Council District 7. The project area was created in the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake, when then Councilmember Alarcón worked with the CRA/LA to create this project assistance area. The project area consists of approximately 2,914 acres, generally bounded by the San Diego Freeway on the West, Foothill Freeway on the North and East, and Victory Blvd on the South. In the next fiscal year, this project area has a projected budget of $64 million.

Councilmember Alarcón will work closely with Councilmember Cardenas, the community, business interest, Neighborhood Councils, educators, non-profit organizations, lenders, residents and the government to create the vision.  The end result will be a Master Plan for the project area, including specific goals for implementation. Additionally, the visioning process will identity and address major challenges that must be overcome for the Northeast San Fernando Valley to emerge as a vibrant and prosperous business, manufacturing and commercial center.


Increasing Home-Ownership

Councilmember Alarcón is focused on increasing home-ownership rates in the City of Los Angeles, and especially the Seventh Council District, and is currently working with the Community Redevelopment Agency to create a program to help Angelenos move from renting to owning their homes.  This program will be specially designed to target "Hometown Heros" such as teachers, nurses, fire fighters and police officers who often have trouble affording to live in the neighborhoods they serve.  In addition, the Councilman has directed to CRA to create a strategy to increase home-ownership opportunities in the Panorama City/North Hills area, long plagued with the challenge of a high concentration of rental apartments.

Price PFister and Montgomery Wards Locations

There are two areas that especially lend themselves to thriving new commercial and mixed use development - the location that was formerly occupied by the Price Pfister plant in Pacoima and the Montgomery Wards location in Panorama City.

Councilmember Alarcón is working closely with the developers and potential retail owners to ensure that new opportunities come from the developments, including good-paying jobs, community benefits and access to stores that aren't currently found in the area. 

For the Price Pfister location discussions are occurring to include a Costco and a Lowe's as well as other mid-range retail development. 

This is a great opportunity to create a positive shopping destination where residents currently have to drive miles to get basic essentials.

Lopez Canyon Truck driving Academy

In February, Councilmember Alarcón joined with Mayor Villaraigosa to announce the opening of the Transportation Opportunity Program (TOP) at Lopez Canyon.  Free of charge for participants, the academy will offer four weeks of intense, behind-the-wheel training for drivers seeking a “Class A” license to drive big-rig trucks and tractor trailers.

Graduates typically earn $60,000 in their first year out of the academy - plus health and pension benefits - a figure that is double the salary of “Class B” drivers who operate dump trucks and school buses.

“By Christmas of next year, over 150 men and women from Los Angeles will have good paying jobs to support their families and even more will have these jobs in the years that follow,” said Councilmember Alarcón.  “This partnership is a model of how to strategically create job opportunities by both doing the job training and working with employers to ensure a jobs at the end of the program.” 

Mayor Villaraigosa, who has been a partner throughout the process said, “Today we narrow the economic gap by creating real middle-class jobs.  This academy is win-win for us all: for the City, for the economy and - most of all - for our hard-working residents.”

To determine drivers’ eligibility, the academy uses hiring standards laid out by the employers on its board. To qualify, drivers must be a minimum 23 years old; have a clean driving record without DUIs; undergo a background check; and pass a Department of Transportation-mandated drug screening and physical.

Any qualified Los Angeles County resident can apply, and one-quarter of students will come from the areas surrounding Lopez Canyon in the Northeast Valley. As a non-profit, the academy has no requirements for union affiliation for entering students or graduating drivers.

While private-sector driving programs exist (for a charge), the free non-profit academy has a 97% pass rate for the Department of Motor Vehicle’s Class A exam - almost double the average pass rate of private schools.

The project is a partnership between employers - including United Grocers, Heavy Transport, ABF Freight, CVS Pharmacy, Horizon Freight, Kraft Foods, SYSCO Foods, Roadway Express and Rockview Farms - the Teamsters Joint Council 42, El Proyecto del Barrio worksource center, the California Employment Training Panel, and several City departments, including the Workforce Investment Board, the Bureau of Sanitation and its Board of Public Works.

Councilmember Alarcón has been a champion on the issue of foreclosures in the City of Los Angeles, pushing for action from the federal, state and local government long before most politicians would admit that the nation was in a crisis.  In August of 2007 Councilmember Alarcón held an emergency meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on Ending Poverty in Los Angeles to look into the foreclosure crisis.  Out of that came a series of resolutions, one for federal, state and local calling on the government to take quick action to stem the tide of foreclosure that is hitting everyone - both those being foreclosed upon and those who are not.

Since then, he has introduced multiple motions and resolutions dealing with this crisis as well sponsoring community forums on foreclosure and how to prevent foreclosure and renegotiate loans.

Foreclosure Resources