“We must strive to build communities whose environment
inspires children from their earliest days to hope, to
learn, and to care; communities that encourage home ownership;
communities that nourish an entrepreneurial spirit and
offer parents the tools and support so necessary to the
vital act of childrearing.”
-
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo
The Program
“American Dream” is an
innovative program created by Los Angeles City Attorney
Rocky Delgadillo that seeks to develop vacant nuisance
properties in the City of Los Angeles into housing,
businesses, community gardens and pocket parks. Through
a strategic partnering of the public and private sectors,
new life is breathed into our communities as blight
is extinguished. In 2007, The American Dream
Program was selected to participate in the National
League of Cities’ annual Congress of Cities and
Exposition “City Showcase” in New Orleans,
LA. The showcase is an annual exhibition of successful,
creative programs from cities and towns across the
country. 2007 was the National League of Cities'
biggest conference of the year, attracting more than
4,000 of the nation's city officials.
How it Works
The American Dream Program is improving neighborhoods
one property at a time by partnering with non-profit
and for-profit developers to transform blighted properties
into their most productive uses. The City Attorney’s
Office facilitates the development of vacant nuisance
properties by, among other things: 1) providing user-friendly
information about nuisance properties that the City
has identified as being ripe for development; 2) assisting
in navigating City agencies to obtain required approval
for the successful development of nuisance properties;
3) interfacing with the Los Angeles City Council to
obtain a reduction of nuisance abatement liens encumbering
a subject property, where appropriate; and 4) assisting
participating developers in any other appropriate method
to transform nuisance properties into productive uses
for the community. In addition, numerous nuisance
properties in Los Angeles may be subject to foreclosure
proceedings by the City Attorney to recover delinquent
nuisance abatement liens, which have been placed on
title of these properties to recover the City’s
costs of clearing and fencing vacant lots, and, in
some cases, demolishing dilapidated buildings.
Why it Matters
Vacant nuisance properties contribute directly to urban
blight. Some nuisance properties are centers
of criminal activity, while others have remained vacant
for years and are used for nothing more than make-shift
dumping grounds for unwanted furniture and refuse. In
the end, nuisance properties needlessly jeopardize
the health and safety of communities throughout Los
Angeles. The “American Dream” Program
recognizes that nuisance properties can prevent entire
communities from moving forward, and that they can
be a source of much-needed housing stock for Los Angeles. There
are currently seven projects in development through
the program, with over 45 units of affordable and market-rate
housing, and live/work space. One property,
8901 Mettler Street in South Los Angeles, had been
vacant since the civil unrest of 1992, serving as a
magnet for gang and transient activity as well as graffiti
and illegal trash dumping. With the assistance of the
American Dream Program, Wedgewood Enterprises, Inc.
a Southern California real estate developer specializing
in rehabilitating distressed properties, purchased
the nuisance property and constructed a five-bedroom,
single family home. Neighborhood support for
the program has been great, with one Mettler Street
resident, Violet Winder, stating: “I’m
really happy they are finally going to clean it up. It’s
a mess.”
