CLTs are positioned not only to address current racial and economic inequalities that have emerged during COVID-19, but to repair historic inequities that for generations have been perpetuated and enhanced through land ownership, land use and development practices. CLTs show the greatest promise to weave these goals together into a viable recovery strategy.

The 2020 UCLA Community Collaborative is an applied research project that operated through the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs from January to June 2020. Coordinated and taught by adjunct faculty member Sandra McNeill, the project brought graduate students in Urban Planning and Public Health together with community partners from South and East Los Angeles to address the question: How can LA’s working-class communities of color disrupt the devastating impact of speculative capital that is raising housing costs, creating displacement, and destabilizing neighborhoods?

On behalf of the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning and in conjunction with CTY Housing and John E. Davis, prepared a business plan for the expansion of Fideicomiso Comunitario Tierra Libre into Unincorporated East Los Angeles. Sandra McNeill Consulting focused on preparation policy strategies for enhancing LA County’s support for community land trusts (See Appendices B and C in report linked below).