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Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.A coalition of architects has created around 200 free individualized plans to help people rebuild after losing their homes in the Eaton Fire — part of a larger effort to assist Altadena’s Black community and preserve the cultural legacy of the neighborhood. The “Rebuild Readiness” packages give homeowners a head start in the reconstruction process and connect them with architects from the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, also known as Socal NOMA. The Altadena Rebuild Coalition started weeks after the January fires when members of Socal NOMA recognized the scale of the destruction. They said they also felt a desire to preserve Altadena’s history as a community that afforded people of color the chance to be homeowners. “ The leadership organized to create a coalition group to address this very concern and this need for the community, specifically the Black and Brown community,” said Winston Thorne, one of the architects in the coalition.Before the fires, Altadena’s population was 58% people of color and about 18% of residents were Black, according to census. The community, part of unincorporated Los Angeles County, has a Black homeownership rate nearly twice as high as the national average.Architect Charles Bryant lived in his Altadena home for 22 years. His house, which used to be nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, had expansive views of downtown Pasadena and Los Angeles before it burned down alongside most of his neighbors’ homes. Today, his property is mostly dirt. After the Army Corps of Engineers cleared debris, all that remains are charred plants that line a concrete walkway to where his house used to stand.“ We'll just move forward,” he said. “ You just have to move the roadblocks… figure out a way to get around it and just make it work.”They contain information about a person's property, including its size, zoning classification and historical records. They also contain a timeline for how long each phase of the rebuild is expected to take and an action plan to stay on track. There are several steps to getting a house rebuilt, and a package doesn't mean a homeowner can start building right away. However, Thorne said “it's a start that expedites that whole design and build process.” The coalition also connects homeowners with a Socal NOMA architect, who can provide design services based on their individual needs. Thorne said he hopes providing homeowners with this information will dissuade them from selling their property to developers. “ We don't want to see this turn out to be like other natural disasters that we've seen throughout our country. So we're trying very diligently to try to avert the fragmentation of Altadena by speculators,” he said.Altadena’s history as a refuge for Black Angelenos is core to the identity of the neighborhood. The coalition wants to preserve that.Prior to the 1960s Altadena was a predominantly white neighborhood because of redlining, a practice that prevented Black families from securing mortgages for homes in certain areas. Racial covenants in Pasadena alsoThe passage of the Fair Housing Act as part of the Civil Rights Act made discriminatory housing practices illegal, breaking down barriers that kept Black residents out of the neighborhood. This prompted “white flight” from the area. As white residents left, Black families moved in to create one of the first middle class neighborhoods to include Black residents in the area, known as the Meadows neighborhood. The Black population expanded from less than 1% in 1960 to around 4% in 1970, and continued to grow. Today, Altadena is around 18% Black. The coalition held listening sessions with Altadena’s community to better understand what the neighborhood meant to them and what should be preserved. “ Some people talked about Altadena being the best kept secret,” Thorne said. “It was the anchor point for their legacy. A lot of their children would end up buying homes in, proximity or in other cities, but would always come back to Altadena as the hub for engagement and exchange of history and values."“Many people have no insurance and many people are underinsured,” Bryant said. “I'm actually underinsured and I have a gap that I have to close financially.”Some homeowners may have coverage that helps them relocate to a rental property while they wait for their home to be rebuilt. Throne said he worried that relocation assistance would run out for many before their home was finished. One way to spread out the cost while giving people a place to stay is building accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, while the main house is under construction. ADUs can be faster and cheaper to build than traditional housing.Regardless of how a homeowner rebuilds, getting started soon was a key concern for Thorne, which is why rebuild packages are going out now. He also expects uncertainty about increased tariffs and ICE raidsDriving through Altadena, the neighborhood appears to have moved into a different phase of recovery. Most properties have been cleared, rubble replaced by builders signs and other indicators of construction.“ We still have work to do, but we have met our commitment in terms of developing these rebuild packages, which is really the exclamation mark of this coalition group,” Thorne said. Moving forward, coalition members may work directly with homeowners as architects or as project managers for residents using a pre-approvedWalking along Bryant's property, he pointed out the plants that he was attempting to nurse back to health. One was a cactus, burned on the sides. The top of the cactus, however, was green and full of life. His plants are starting to regrow.The loss of federal funding for public media means audience support is more important than ever. Make a powerful statement to safeguard the future of LAist. Become a monthly sustaining member or increase your current support to keep independent local journalism strong.Starting Aug. 1, a state rent control law will limit annual increases to 8%. The region’s ceiling on rent hikes has been 8.9% over the last year.LA’s legal cannabis owners say multi-million dollar program to give them a hand up, instead left ‘complete debt and devastation’ The city may need to return up to $10 million in grants meant for cannabis businesses after a state audit found those funds may not have been spent as intended.Should Palisades and Altadena homeowners be able to build duplexes on their burned lots? Some state and local officials say no.As tsunami threat subsides, LA, OC urged to avoid coastal waters as dangerous currents and rogue waves still possible Coastal California north of Santa Barbara remains under a tsunami advistory after a massive quake in eastern Russia on Tuesday."DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country," said DHS assistant press secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who then encouraged"every person here illegally" to self-deport.How to navigate LAUSD’s magnet point systemDid a complicated 2024 homeless count lead to errors? Experts and some city officials think so
Black Homeownership Eaton Fire Redlining
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