Trump Effect: Some Palisades Residents Visit Homes for First Time Since Fire After President’s Visit

BREITBART | Published January 26, 2025

Residents of the Pacific Palisades flocked home on Saturday after President Donald Trump’s visit the day before, with many gaining access to their property for the first time since the Palisades Fire more than two weeks ago.

Trump met with residents and local officials on Friday, holding a roundtable discussion at the local fire station in which he allowed those affected by the fires to raise their concerns for the first time.

President Donald Trumpand first lady Melania Trump listen as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks during a briefing after a tour of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood affected by recent wildfires in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

(This author participated, and urged the president to appoint a Special Master, as the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund did, to make sure that California actually spends the money on rebuilding fire-damaged areas, rather than on every liberal pet policy.)

During the meeting, local residents raised concerns that they had been told it would take 18 months to clear their lots of debris, and that local permitting processes would stop them from rebuilding.

 

In addition, most of the affected residents had been prohibited from even visiting the ruins of their homes. Trump took the residents’ side against the city, and when Mayor Karen Bass pushed back, he insisted that they be able to access their property immediately.

Bass said they could go within a week. “A week is a long time,” President Trump said, saying residents should be able to go immediately.

The next day, residents rushed to the assembly point in nearby Santa Monica Parking Lot #3, where police escorts had been taking caravans of residents to the Highlands, one of the areas of the Pacific Palisades that had not been as badly affected as the rest of the town.

They insisted on being taken to other neighborhoods — Marquez Knolls, the “Alphabet Streets,” the Bluffs, and others — with many insisting that President Trump had promised them access.

While some were turned away, some persisted and were able to visit their lots — at least for a short period of time.

 

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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com

RELATED: LA real estate agent reveals No. 1 reason why Pacific Palisades residents won’t return

Ex-‘Million Dollar Listing’ star Josh Altman says ‘simple math’ may keep up to 70% of wildfire victims away

Former “Million Dollar Listing” star Josh Altman argues that the main reason why up to 70% of Pacific Palisades residents won’t return to their homes is due to expensive insurance and buildings costs, on “FOX Business Live.” (FOXBusiness)

FOX BUSINESS | Published January 26, 2025

After making a shocking prediction that up to 70% of Pacific Palisades residents won’t return to rebuild and live in their homes, former “Million Dollar Listing” real estate agent Josh Altman is explaining exactly why.

“They’re not going to not return because they don’t want to return. Of course they want to go back there… They’re not going to return because it’s simple math,” Altman said on “FOX Business Live,” Friday.

“I don’t believe they’re going to be able to afford to rebuild with most of the people that are heavily underinsured, with the costs of construction, lumber, steel. We’re talking about a $1,000 [per] foot building in the Palisades and in Malibu.”

Southern California has been grappling with a surge of wildfires since Jan. 7. Over 50,000 acres have been scorched, 28 people have been killed and upwards of 16,000 homes and buildings have been completely lost.

Early estimates put the total financial loss of the wildfires in the $50 billion range, according to AccuWeather and JPMorgan. Leading up to the fires, several insurance companies either fled, stopped writing new policies or reduced coverage in the Golden State.

“And that’s on top of getting a construction crew to show up to your site when there’s 16,000 structures that have been burned between houses, schools, commercial spaces. It’s a disaster,” Altman expanded. “That’s what I’m saying, I don’t know that they’ll be able to do it with the insurance.”

Newsom signed off on a relief package where the state will spend $2.5 billion to help with wildfire recovery. But Altman wants Newsom to take his response a step further by removing bureaucratic roadblocks that make building homes in California timely and costly.

“The recipe for success is going to be cutting the red tape. Building a house, the process in California, which is just wrapped in red tape, is absolutely impossible: a year to get permits; you’ve got the Coastal Commission, which could be another two years. It’s time for the governor to start cutting the red tape. We got to move forward as a team,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of ordinances and a lot of things on the state and local level that have to go. The mansion tax, that was the worst tax that was ever passed,” Altman continued. “Get rid of it for all the people who lost their houses. The wildlife ordinance, get rid of it. Start cutting the red tape. That’s how we’re going to get back to being [a] strong Los Angeles.”

The real estate expert, who spoke ahead of the president’s visit, hoped Trump seeing the devastation with his own eyes would lead to more federal aid and assistance.

 

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SOURCE: www.foxbusiness.com

 

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