One of the goals of an “Impact Journalism” website is to establish the editor as a a reputable source for legacy, or mainstream, media outlets with larger audiences. Over the past year and a half, we’ve been excited to watch both local and some of the world’s largest media outlets look to Santa Monica Next editor Jason Islas as a person to talk to when discussing Santa Monica. He has also been featured on local news radio — both KPCC and KCRW — Santa Monica’s housing policies in the context of the dire regional housing shortage.
Last week, Islas was quoted by Laura Latham in the Financial Times, a newspaper with an English-language audience of 2.2 million people, about the housing supply crisis in Santa Monica:
“Santa Monica is a microcosm of what is happening in California’s coastal communities,” says Jason Islas, a journalist at the Santa Monica Next news website… “California’s housing shortage is worse than at any time since the second world war,” he says. “LA county has under-built for the past 30 years by about 1m units.”
Islas blames a lack of political will to loosen planning laws, even where there is underused land. The housing crisis in Santa Monica is “artificial”, he says, “created through restrictive zoning practices designed to keep people out”.
We’re proud to see Islas getting recognized for his excellent work at Next and look forward to seeing more. To read the FT article, click here.
