For nearly four decades, Patricia Payan has lived in a leased version of the suburban ideal in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home on Sheffield Avenue in El Sereno. Payan rents the house from the state of California, one of hundreds publicly owned in the community because of a freeway that was planned but never built. Living there for so long, Payan made countless memories and personal touches at the property.
Sales of the homes, apartments, lots and other properties owned by Caltrans are the final step toward healing the wound opened in the mid-20th century by plans to complete the 710 Freeway through the San Gabriel Valley. Decades of empty, boarded-up houses and lax oversight have led to blight and grievances against the public agency.
Caltrans' tenants, including Payan and other longtime low- and middle-income residents, are gaining the opportunity to buy their homes at reduced prices, the only way they say they could afford to become homeowners.
The continued slow pace of the sales is mounting frustration for Caltrans tenants, city officials and housing advocates looking to reawaken their neighborhoods. Renters fear they may remain in escrow for as long as two years before Caltrans completes repairs to their homes.
Collection
[
|
...
]