LOS ANGELES-UCLA study the 2013 Livable Communities Report: A Call to Action has identified transit corridors as the ideal location to develop new workforce housing that could help shrink Los Angeles' housing affordability issues. In a “call to action,” the report uses six demographic and market issue categories, which are population, housing density, income, employment, transit ridership and land values, to rank the development potential of 104 station areas. The results showed these areas offer the best affordable housing development opportunities.

Ascending housing prices this year have contributed to an increased affordability gap for middle-class workers. The report states that 60% of renters and 50% of homeowners have housing costs 30% higher than their income. This group also represents those whose income is too high to qualify for government assistance.

"Identifying the hottest areas of the region for workforce housing is important, but it's only part of the equation," says Paul Habibi, UCLA Anderson School of Management professor and the study's principal author. "Meaningful public-sector incentives are still required to attract investment and make these new livable communities financially feasible, especially given the demise of redevelopment agencies that traditionally led these efforts. Policymakers have the tools to make these projects attractive to potential investors and builders, and it's time to use them."