Rent and the Creative Class

In recent weeks and months, we’ve seen a flurry of coverage from national outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal citing the great weather and the burgeoning gallery scene as reasons why it’s great to be a creative professional in LA. There’s even the comparison of LA with other, denser cities like New York and San Francisco in how comparatively inexpensive it is to live here. But rents continue to rise – at upwards of twice the national average, according to some statistics – and housing prices are through the roof. So, how great is it, not only for the creative class, but for the lower and middle class? Carolina Miranda is staff writer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and Adrian Glick Kudler is senior editor at Curbed LA. They spoke to KCRW's Steve Chiotakis.