Part 2: A Housing Model That Works from Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of Second Grace LA
A rendering of what beautiful, inclusive, affordable housing could look like in LA based on the Vienna Model.
PART 2: A Housing Model That Works
How the World's Most Successful Housing Model Could Actually Work in LA
A few years ago at Rome's MAXXI Museum, I saw future city plans from London School of Architecture students that inspired me. The winning design featured communal housing on a massive scale—large developments around transit hubs with well-designed private rooms on upper floors and welcoming shared spaces below. It wasn't institutional. It was beautiful and human-scaled.
I remember thinking, "Why haven't I seen this in the US?"
Back in San Francisco, my research humbled me. People had been doing it for over a century in places where housing is treated as a right rather than a commodity. It's called social housing, and Vienna has been perfecting it for 105 years.[1]
The Pattern Already Exists
Once I knew what to look for, I saw variations everywhere. At Lava Mae, I encountered a similar model in a proposed PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) building—private dignity combined with communal resources—individual rooms connected to shared spaces that build community rather than isolate people.
When I moved to LA, I saw membership-based private co-living models with innovative approaches to member comfort.
The market was discovering what Vienna had known for a century: affordable housing doesn't have to be isolating single-family homes or institutional warehouses. There's a better middle path.
There's a crucial difference though, market versions are expensive and exclusive. Vienna's version houses 60% of the city's population at rents averaging $550–$700 per month[2]—less than 30% of LA's mid-range one-bedroom costs. Vienna proves this works for taxi drivers and professors alike.
That's what Los Angeles needs to build. The 2028 Olympics gives us the deadline and urgency to start.
LA Is Already Proving Parts of the Vienna Model Work
Los Angeles has made unprecedented progress on affordable housing production—while simultaneously revealing exactly why we need Vienna's complete model, not just pieces of it.
Mayor Karen Bass's Executive Directive 1 (ED1), signed in her first week in office in December 2022, has approved over 16,150 affordable housing units with NO public subsidy.[15] That's more than LA approved in 2020, 2021, and 2022 combined.[15] By streamlining approvals to just 60 days and eliminating environmental review requirements, ED1 proved that removing bureaucratic obstacles can unlock massive private investment in affordable housing.[16]
The policy has been called "a monumental shift in how affordable housing is developed" by housing advocates.[17] Studios in these buildings rent for approximately $1,800 per month—affordable to households earning up to 80% of Area Median Income, or about $100,000 annually in Los Angeles.[18]
In February 2025, the City Council passed the Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP), creating regulatory capacity for an additional 250,000 housing units through streamlined approvals and density bonuses near transit.[19] The infrastructure for accelerated production exists.
But here's the critical problem: These aren't Vienna-style permanently affordable units. They're market-rate affordable units that will convert to market rate after 30-year compliance periods expire. They have no public land ownership, no revolving funds, no limited-profit housing associations. They're temporary affordability, not permanent infrastructure.
Worse, ED1 has displaced existing affordable housing. Between December 2022 and July 2024, 126 of 334 ED1 applications targeted rent-stabilized buildings, putting 732 rent-controlled units at risk of demolition.[20] One Eagle Rock resident who has paid $568 monthly for 48 years faces eviction so developers can build "affordable" housing she couldn't afford to live in.[21]
And the momentum may already be fading. Mayor Bass's 2025 budget proposes an 80% cut in city-financed affordable housing—from 770 units to just 160 units—due to a nearly $1 billion budget deficit.[22] High interest rates, Trump administration tariffs, and potential deportations of 25% of California's construction workforce threaten to make building even more expensive.[22]
We have proof that streamlined approvals work. We have proof that private capital will build affordable housing when the path is clear. What we don't have—and what we desperately need—are Vienna's mechanisms for permanent affordability: public land ownership, revolving funds that recycle rents into new construction, and legal structures that prevent conversion to market rate.
ED1 and CHIP show us what's possible. Vienna shows us what's necessary.
Los Angeles Dodged a Bullet
The first good move Los Angeles made was deciding not to build an Olympic Village.
In 2020, Oxford University researchers analyzed every Olympics since 1960. Their findings were damning:
Every single Olympics exceeded the budget. The average cost overrun was 172%.[3] Housing projects were particularly vulnerable to overruns.
Their conclusion regarding affordable housing legacies: "Affordable housing legacy is unlikely to materialize absent strong legal protections."[3]
They found that promises made before the Games—50% affordable housing in London, 80% in Rio—were systematically broken after the Games when attention moved on and the financial pressures to recover costs dominated decision-making.[3]
Los Angeles, fortunately, doesn't have to make this mistake. We're not building an Olympic Village. We're not stuck with the compromises and financial pressures that doomed past Olympic housing legacies.
We're free to build something completely different. Something that actually works. Something that's been working for 105 years in Vienna.
How Vienna Solved Their Housing Crisis
In May 1919, Vienna's newly elected Social Democrats faced catastrophe.[4] World War I had ended, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had collapsed, and the housing crisis was killing people. Hundreds of thousands lived in overcrowded tenements without running water or heat. Tuberculosis was rampant. Infant mortality was horrifying.
They asked a radical question: What if housing was a right, not a commodity? What if the city built housing for working people and charged only what it cost to build and maintain, without profit?
In 1922, Vienna gained fiscal sovereignty and implemented progressive taxation explicitly to fund housing.[4] On September 21, 1923, the City Council decreed they would construct 25,000 apartments within five years.[4] That deadline forced action.
Between 1919 and 1934, Vienna built 63,000-65,000 apartments housing 220,000 people—10% of the city's population.[4] They exceeded their targets ahead of schedule.
The Karl-Marx-Hof, completed in 1930, symbolizes what their vision of permanent housing looks like.[4] Spanning 1 kilometer and housing 1,300 apartments, it includes laundry facilities, communal baths, kindergartens, a library, medical clinics, and extensive courtyards. It's beautiful—not utilitarian—with decorative facades and thoughtful landscaping that respects residents' dignity.
These buildings remain affordable today and families live in them for generations.[5]
Revolutionary Amenities Made It Politically Bulletproof
Vienna's social housing included basic amenities that most working-class people had never seen before.[4] Things like running water and indoor toilets in every unit, gas heat and stoves, and a window in every room.
The Social Democrats understood that if you build barely adequate housing, it will be politically vulnerable. Middle-class voters won't defend it. It will be stigmatized. Future governments will cut funding or demolish it.
But if you build housing that's beautiful and desirable, that includes amenities middle-class people want, that anyone would be happy to live in—then it becomes politically invincible. People will fight to defend it.[6]
This is why Vienna's social housing survived fascism, war, and political changes over 105 years. It was built too thoughtfully to dismantle.[7]
The Vienna Model: Five Essential Elements
Today, 60% of Vienna's 1.9 million residents live in social or rent-controlled housing.[2] On average, social housing costs 23% less than private housing in Vienna.[2] In some cases, social housing actually costs MORE than private housing due to demand[8] proving that Vienna's social housing doesn't undercut the private market through massive subsidies. Instead, the large scale of social housing stabilizes the entire market and prevents private landlords from price gouging.[8]
Compared to other cities, residents of Vienna spend around 20–25% of their monthly income on rental.[9]
How is this possible?
The Five Essential Elements:
1. Public Land Ownership
Vienna owns the land in perpetuity.[10] Private developers can't purchase it, subdivide it, or flip it. This single decision makes affordability permanent. Land that Vienna acquired in 1919 for social housing remains social housing today.[4]
2. Limited-Profit Housing Associations
Vienna created non-profit organizations that could only extract costs plus a modest return.[11] Any surplus returns to the revolving fund. No investors extracting maximum profit from human need.[11]
3. Universal Eligibility
Vienna doesn't restrict housing to "the poor." About 75-80% of Vienna's population qualifies.[12] When the middle class benefits, the program becomes politically bulletproof. Center-right governments continued building because their voters lived there too.[7]
4. Permanent Affordability
No 30-year compliance periods. No tax credits expiring. Rents stay affordable forever through the legal structure of limited-profit associations and public land ownership.[11]
5. Quality That Competes with Private Housing
Modern Vienna social housing continues to include rooftop pools, saunas, childcare centers, and extensive green space in every community.[8] Quality attracts the middle class and maintains political support.[6]
What LA Could Do: January 2026 to July 2028
Los Angeles has advantages Vienna never had: existing funding ($270M+ annually from Measure ULA), 105 years of proven models to copy, and modern construction technology. Vienna faced post-war devastation with no model to follow. We have resources and Vienna's blueprint.[13]
All that factored in, here's what we could accomplish in the next 30 months:
Phase One: Foundation Building (First 12 Months)
Establish LA's First Limited-Profit Housing Association
Create a non-profit entity with Vienna's legal constraints: costs plus rents with modest returns only, surplus funds recycled into housing.[11] Structure it to survive political transitions.
Secure Public Land
Identify and acquire 3-5 strategic sites near transit. Don't buy land—this destroys affordability. Use city-owned parcels, land banking, or long-term ground leases where the city retains ownership.[10]
Create the Revolving Fund
Structure Vienna-style financing where rents repay construction costs over 30-40 years, then that capital builds more housing.[11] This is how Vienna built 60,000 units without constant new subsidies.[4]
Phase Two: Proof of Concept (Months 12-30)
Break Ground on First 5,000 Units
Start construction on multiple sites simultaneously. Use modular construction and prefabrication to accelerate timelines. Vienna built 60,000 units in 15 years with 1920s technology[4]—we can build 10,000 in three years with modern methods.
Develop the Workforce Pipeline
Train construction workers, property managers, and social service coordinators. Vienna's model requires institutional capacity that doesn't exist in LA's current affordable housing system. ULA funding mandates can help with this too.
Build the Political Coalition
Ensure 75% of LA residents qualify for future units.[12] When nurses, teachers, firefighters, and small business owners benefit—not just "the homeless"—the program becomes permanent infrastructure that survives election cycles.[6]
Establish Operating Protocols
Create Vienna-style tenant governance, maintenance standards, and community programming. Quality management makes the difference between success and institutional warehouses.[5]
Phase Three: Olympic Completion (By July 2028)
Complete and Occupy First 5,000-10,000 Units
Have residents living in permanent, affordable housing before the Opening Ceremony. This isn't athlete housing for three weeks—it's homes for working Angelenos forever.
Document and Share the Model
Create replicable templates for other US cities. LA has the chance to prove Vienna's model works in America.[13]
Establish Long-Term Funding Commitments
Lock in dedicated revenue streams through ballot measures or constitutional protections. Make it difficult for future administrations to dismantle.
Why This Timeline Works
The 2028 deadline creates urgency that compresses typical housing development timelines. Vienna's original decree—25,000 units in five years—succeeded because deadlines force action.[4]
I'm not proposing 10,000 units to solve LA's 500,000-unit need. But let's start building the foundation—land bank, institutional capacity, revolving funds, political coalition—that enables 5,000-10,000 units annually for the next 30 years. That's 100,000+ units by 2045.
The Seven Critical Factors To Ensure Success
Understanding why Vienna succeeded while other approaches failed determines whether LA succeeds:
1. Permanent vs. Temporary Affordability
Tax credit housing has 30-year compliance periods. After that, developers can convert to the market rate.[14] Vienna's affordability is sustained by public land ownership and its legal structure.[11]
2. Public Land vs. Private Ownership
Vienna owns the land.[10] Private developers build on it but can never own it. This single decision prevents speculation and ensures permanent affordability.
3. Universal vs. Targeted Eligibility
Programs serving only the poorest 10% are politically vulnerable. Vienna's 75% eligibility creates middle-class support that survives government changes.[12]
4. Quality vs. Utilitarian Design
Vienna's housing competes with private market quality.[8] This attracts working families and maintains property values, creating virtuous cycles instead of stigmatized "projects."[6]
5. Revolving Funds vs. One-Time Subsidies
Vienna's rents repay construction costs that build more housing.[11] Most US subsidies disappear after building one project. Vienna's model multiplies impact over time.[4]
6. Long-Term Commitment vs. Political Cycles
Vienna sustained commitment through fascism, war, and multiple government transitions because universal eligibility made it politically bulletproof.[7] LA must build similar durability.
7. Non-Profit Development vs. For-Profit Extraction
Limited-profit associations can only extract costs plus modest returns.[11] No investors maximizing profit from human need. Surplus returns to build more housing.
These aren't minor details. They're the difference between permanent solutions and temporary fixes.
LA's Unique Advantages
We have resources Vienna never had:
Existing funding: Measure ULA generates $270M+ annually
Proven model: 105 years of Vienna's success to copy[1]
Modern technology: Modular construction and prefabrication accelerate timelines
Olympic momentum: Global attention creates accountability
Reconstruction opportunities: Palisades rebuilding could generate $180-330M in additional funds
Streamlined approvals: ED1 proved 60-day approvals are possible—16,150 units approved since 2022[15]
Regulatory capacity: CHIP creates framework for 250,000 additional units[19]
Recent progress: Fast Track program has funded $62 million across 26 projects, creating 515 affordable units in 2025 alone[23]
Vienna 1919 had political will but lacked resources and models. LA 2025 has resources, models, and proven streamlined processes but lacks political will and Vienna's permanent affordability structures. The question is whether Olympic urgency can generate the political will Vienna had—and whether we can add Vienna's land ownership and revolving fund mechanisms to LA's streamlined approval processes—before that urgency fades after 2028.
The Real Test
Los Angeles has never lacked ambition. We've built freeways, aqueducts, and entertainment empires. We've transformed landscapes and created industries. Housing working people permanently and affordably should be easier than any of those achievements.
Vienna, devastated by war and facing hyperinflation, built 60,000 units in 15 years and housed one in ten residents.[4] Los Angeles—one of the wealthiest cities in human history—can build 10,000 units in three years.
The question isn't capability. It's will.
We have three years and global attention. Let's build something that lasts beyond the Closing Ceremony.
Coming in Part 3: Where the Money Comes From
Measure ULA, Palisades reconstruction funds, and Olympic Legacy financing could generate $1.2-1.5 billion for Vienna-style social housing. The next installment shows precisely how to structure the funding so the money recirculates forever rather than disappearing like typical grants.
REFERENCES
[1] History - Socialhousing - Social housing in Vienna. https://socialhousing.wien/en/history/
[2] Housing conditions - STATISTICS AUSTRIA - The Information Manager. https://www.statistik.at/en/statistics/population-and-society/housing/housing-conditions
[3] Olympic housing conversion costs academic research. Multiple sources documenting 172% average cost overrun and lack of affordable housing legacy without legal protections.
[4] Red Vienna social housing 1920s history. Historical Timeline of Social Housing in Vienna | Social Housing in Vienna: Reflections from Los Angeles Housing Leaders. https://gpla.co/historical-timeline-of-social-housing-in-vienna/
[5] Vienna Gemeindebauten history timeline. Housing in Vienna - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_Vienna
[6] Exploring the Promises and Challenges of Vienna's Social Housing Program - Funders Together to End Homelessness. https://funderstogether.org/exploring-the-promises-and-challenges-of-viennas-social-housing-program/
[7] Full article: The remarkable stability of social housing in Vienna and Helsinki: a multi-dimensional analysis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2023.2198003
[8] In Vienna, public housing is affordable and desirable. Marketplace. https://www.marketplace.org/2024/01/16/in-vienna-public-housing-is-affordable-and-desirable/
[9] Can Vienna's model of social housing provide the inspiration to tackle Europe's housing crisis? https://www.equaltimes.org/can-vienna-s-model-of-social
[10] Wohnfonds Wien land banking. Vienna's Housing Ecosystem | Social Housing in Vienna: Reflections from Los Angeles Housing Leaders. https://gpla.co/viennas-housing-ecosystem/
[11] Vienna limited profit housing associations cost rent model. Overview of the Vienna Social Housing System | Social Housing in Vienna: Reflections from Los Angeles Housing Leaders. https://gpla.co/overview-of-the-vienna-social-housing-system/
[12] Vienna social housing statistics 2024 percentage rent levels. Vienna's Unique Social Housing Program | HUD USER. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr-edge-featd-article-011313.html
[13] How We Can Bring Vienna's Housing Model to the U.S. — Shelterforce. https://shelterforce.org/2023/10/24/how-we-can-bring-viennas-housing-model-to-the-u-s/
[14] LIHTC development costs California 2024. Comparison of tax credit housing compliance periods vs. Vienna's permanent affordability model.
[15] CalMatters. (February 2024). "Los Angeles' one weird trick to build affordable housing at no public cost." Over 16,150 affordable units approved under Executive Directive 1 since December 2022. https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/02/affordable-housing-los-angeles/
[16] Mayor Karen Bass. (December 2022). "Mayor Bass signs Executive Directive to dramatically accelerate and lower the cost of affordable housing." 60-day approval process for 100% affordable housing. https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-signs-executive-directive-dramatically-accelerate-and-lower-cost-affordable-housing
[17] LAist. (February 2024). "Los Angeles' One Weird Trick To Build Affordable Housing At No Public Cost." Quote from Mahdi Manji, Inner City Law Center. https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/affordable-housing-los-angeles-unsubsidized
[18] KCRW. (July 2024). "LA mayor retools signature ED1 affordable housing policy." Studios renting at $1,800/month for households earning up to 80% AMI (~$100,000). https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/kcrw-features/ed1-eviction-affordable-housing
[19] National Law Review. (February 2025). "Los Angeles Encouraging Housing Development in New Ordinances." CHIP ordinance creates capacity for 250,000 additional units. https://natlawreview.com/article/city-los-angeles-approves-new-ordinances-encourage-housing-development
[20] SAJE (Strategic Actions for a Just Economy). (May 2025). "ED1 Update: Even with Revisions, L.A.'s Rent-Controlled Units Continue to Be Targeted." 126 of 334 ED1 applications targeted rent-stabilized buildings with 732 units at risk. https://www.saje.net/ed1-update/
[21] KCRW. (July 2024). "LA mayor retools signature ED1 affordable housing policy." Profile of Sally Juarez, Eagle Rock resident facing displacement. https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/kcrw-features/ed1-eviction-affordable-housing
[22] LAist. (2025). "Bass' housing budget." Mayor proposes 80% cut in affordable housing financing (770 units to 160 units) due to $1 billion deficit. https://laist.com/brief/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-city-mayor-bass-budget-affordable-housing-ula-mansion-tax-hhh
[23] Daily News. (October 2025). "L.A. City Council awards $17.5M to fast track eight affordable housing projects." Third round of Fast Track funding, 515 new affordable units. https://www.dailynews.com/2025/10/21/l-a-city-council-awards-17-5m-to-fast-track-eight-affordable-housing-projects/
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This article draws heavily on the Vienna social housing model as documented by multiple academic sources, housing policy researchers, and direct studies of Vienna's system. All statistics about Vienna's housing are from Austrian government sources (Statistics Austria) and peer-reviewed research. Comparisons to U.S. housing models come from HUD documentation and housing policy organizations like Shelterforce and Funders Together to End Homelessness.