South Los Angeles faces intensifying displacement pressures driven by rising housing costs, speculative investment, and decades of structural disinvestment. With a predominantly renter population and household incomes well below county averages, long-time residents are increasingly vulnerable to housing instability and loss of community control. At the same time, limited access to affordable commercial space, green infrastructure, and mobility investments has constrained broader economic opportunity. T.R.U.S.T. South LA needed clear, data-driven analysis to demonstrate how community land trusts can function as long-term economic infrastructure, preserving affordability while supporting community-led development.

CVL Economics conducted a comprehensive impact analysis of T.R.U.S.T. South LA’s community land trust model, integrating housing market data, demographic analysis, and original community surveys. The work quantified affordability gaps, displacement risk, and quality-of-life challenges, while assessing the economic and social outcomes of permanently affordable housing, mixed-use development, and community-serving assets. The engagement also produced a policy and financing framework outlining strategies to scale community land trusts, positioning collective ownership as a durable, community-driven response to displacement and inequitable development.