Economic Redevelopment and the Community Benefits Program: A Case Study of the L.A. Live Project, A Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District

In Los Angeles, and the United States in general, the defining trend of economic redevelopment projects has been the displacement of low-income communities. Considering this history, the 2001 Community Benefits Program - an agreement between a developer and a coalition of community groups and unions - involving the $2.5 billion L.A. Live Project next to the downtown Staples Center, represents a fundamental change in the relationship among developers, city officials, and community organizations and residents. The developer agreed to living wage jobs, local hiring, affordable housing, housing for displaced families, and park space. The Community Benefits Program raises significant issues and questions: Research on communities measuring opposition to development have found that immigrants with lower income and educational levels, and racial minorities, tend to offer less resistance. Given this research, how did immigrants become an effective group in the successful effort to establish the Benefits Program? Unions are losing membership nationwide, have a history of excluding racial minorities, and union leaders have long believed that immigrants could not be organized. Given this history, why are unions now organizing immigrants and minorities in Los Angeles? How have unions become a political force in shaping the city’s economic redevelopment policies and community benefit agreements? Three key factors contributed to the Community Benefits Program. First, a fundamental change in union strategy involving the increased recruitment of immigrants and unionization of service occupations. Second, the rise of strong networks and organizations among immigrants, labor unions, and community organizations. These organizations, which had often operated independently from one another, formed a coalition that linked their resources and translated into research, policy advocacy, and organizing that resulted in a strong political force in the Los Angeles region. Third, many of the major elements of the L.A. Live Community Benefits Program – such as local hiring, union jobs, and living wages – had already been implemented in other development projects. Therefore, the groundbreaking work had already been accomplished. What made the Benefits Program unique was its scale and comprehensiveness.