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While they were all close, gang violence, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and slow 911 response times weren’t chosen by Metblogs readers to be the absolutely worst thing about L.A.

Nope, you decided it Metblogs readers: that honor goes to The High Cost of Owning a Home.

Perhaps the lack of home ownership is the root of many of Los Angeles’ problems. Having a city of renters means a large rotation of citizens, moving in and around the city, and often out, but rarely sticking around in any one place long enough to plant roots and express concern for the long term viability of any one neighborhood. The balance of politician’s attention is spent focusing a minority of home owners as they’re the ones paying property taxes (although the homeowners complain that their tax dollars are being spent on city services for renters that they’ll never use). And the wedge the real estate bubble further into the class divide has made L.A. even more a city of the haves and have nots.

A couple quotes from previous rounds where you can see The High Cost of Owning a Home slugging away for the title:

“When LA County’s median income is half of what is needed to buy a median priced home, there is something terribly, terribly wrong. Thankfully the idiots that ruined the market for the rest of us are getting their comeuppance.” -Kent Nichols ^[2]
[3]
“Is it any wonder that most Angelenos can’t afford to make the American Dream of home ownership a reality? In fact, many of L.A.’s poorest residents end up living with several families all under one roof, packed like sardines in a crushed tin box.” -Mike Winder ^[4]

So there you have it. Its settled. If you ever hear anyone ever say, “The worst thing about LA is/are ‘fake people,’ ‘the smog,’ ‘fake boobs,’ ‘the traffic,’ ‘the lack of Dunkin’ Donuts,’” or whatever else they bitch them about, tell them, “No. The worst thing about Los Angeles is the high cost of owning a home. I read it on the L.A. Metblogs.”

Related posts:

1. LA is the second hardest city to get by in ^[5]
2. I saw the worst minds of my generation… ^[6]
3. The continuing saga of the LAPD/Hummer/Cyclist situation ^[7]
4. There Will Be A Marathon/Bike Tour In March After All (But It’ll Be In Pasadena) ^[8]
5. ICME: What’s Left of It ^[9]