We Have The Money

The LA28 organizing committee has a $7.1 billion budget. The federal government allocated $1 billion for Olympic planning. LA Metro is requesting $2 billion for transit alone. The amount specifically allocated to house residents displaced by Olympic preparations: zero new dollars. This is an article about where the money already exists — and why it isn't being used.

2028 OlympicsPaul AsplundApril 20, 2026Los Angeles, LA2028Olympics, LettersToTheHoused, Housing Policy, housing firstComment

Ask Them First: What Paris Taught Us About Whose Expertise Counts

In 2023, a coalition of 80+ organizations formed to document every displacement, every broken promise, every cascading health crisis Paris's Olympic planning caused. They weren't just opponents. They were architects of a better approach. Los Angeles has two years to decide which version of this story it will tell.

2028 OlympicsPaul AsplundApril 14, 2026Olympics2028, HousingJustice, Homelessness, Los Angeles, Displacement, Paris Olympics, Mega-Events, Co-Design, LivedExperience, Community Power, Radical Hospitality, Encampment Sweeps, Housing Policy, ChangeWell, Le Revers de la MedailleComment

What Paris Taught Us, and What LA Could Still Accomplish

On the morning of July 26, 2024, Paris opened its Olympic Games with a ceremony that stretched the length of the Seine. Millions watched. A woman in irregular housing watched from inside a squat she was afraid to leave. What her story tells us about Los Angeles in 2028.

2028 OlympicsPaul AsplundApril 5, 2026Olympics2028, Housing Justice, Homelessness, Los Angeles, Displacement, Paris Olympics, Mega-Events, Housing Policy, Encampment Sweeps, Radical HospitalityComment

When the Money Runs Out, You Find Out What Matters: Buenos Aires and the No-Exclusion Model

Buenos Aires is not a success story with a neat ending. It's a story about a city making hard choices during an impossible situation — and getting some things right that LA has been getting wrong for years.