Affordable housing in Santa Monica sounds like an oxymoron. In 2013, the city's average monthly rent of $2,328 was the priciest in Los Angeles County. Adding insult to injury are local homeowners who fear that buildings for lower-earning households will be eyesores that drive down property values. But that doesn't stop nonprofit developer Community Corporation of Santa Monica from finding places to construct them and tapping good architects to design them. The latest project to refute NIMBYism's premise is Brooks + Scarpa's Pico Place. The attractive complex animates a nondescript block near the city's civic core and provides apartments for families of low to moderate income, earning from 30 to 60 percent less than the area median income (AMI).
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