Rebuilding Altadena: Housing Recovery After the Eaton Fire
UCLA LPPI and local partners are tracking recovery and rebuilding in one of LA County’s hardest-hit communities after the 2025 Eaton Fire.
About the Project
The January 2025 Eaton Canyon wildfire devastated thousands of homes in Altadena and revealed long-standing racial and economic inequities in recovery. With support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) has launched Rebuilding Altadena: Housing Recovery After the Eaton Fire, a data brief series that examines how the community is recovering after the disaster, and what equitable recovery could look like in practice.
The project builds a detailed picture of how recovery is unfolding in Altadena during the first year after the Eaton Fire. The briefs examine homeowners’ rebuilding progress, changes in the rental market, and residents’ personal and financial realities of recovery as they navigate insurance, aid, and displacement. Together, these insights will guide local and state partners in advancing more equitable and resilient recovery efforts in the face of future climate disasters.
Our approach
Data Brief: Who’s Coming Home?
An Analysis of the Property Sales, Permits, & Rebuilding Efforts of Single-Family Homeowners in Altadena, CA After the Eaton Fire
This first brief examines how racial and economic inequities are shaping post-fire recovery among single-family homeowners after the 2025 Eaton Fire. Findings reveal that most severely affected households, particularly Black homeowners, remain in limbo and have yet to make any public decisions about rebuilding or selling their property.
Published: Oct. 8, 2025
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The brief was later updated through a one-year factsheet, extending the analysis to track recovery outcomes through February 2026.
Published: Oct. 8, 2025
Read the Factsheet
Policy Brief: Rebuilding for Whom?
An Analysis of Tenant Demographics, the Rental Market, Affordability, and the Rebuilding Efforts in Altadena
This second brief analyzes how the Eaton Fire reshaped Altadena’s rental housing landscape, focusing on pre-Eaton fire rental market and how the loss of affordable units might increase displacement pressures.
Published: Feb. 25, 2026
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Data Brief: What It Takes to Recover?
An Analysis of Needs and Experiences Described in 1,253 GoFundMe Campaigns Identified in Community-Led Directories in Altadena After the Eaton Fire
This third brief in the post-fire recovery series examines barriers to household recovery in Altadena by analyzing 1,253 verified GoFundMe campaigns to identify residents’ immediate losses, needs, circumstances, and recovery challenges following the January 2025 Eaton Fire.
Read the Brief
Webinar – The Altadena Recovery: Who Gets to Come Back?
Altadena Recovery Webinar Presentation Deck
Webinar: Who Gets to Come Back? Tenants and the Future of Altadena After the Eaton Fire
Meet Our Research Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board brings together tenant advocates, housing service providers, and local leaders guiding Altadena’s equitable recovery. Members help ground the research in lived experience and shape the project’s policy recommendations.
In the News
Check out our blog posts:
- What Rebuilding Altadena Really Looks Like: Five Key Takeaways | Ana Lua Martel and Sofia Barajas
See where our research have been featured in local and statewide media coverage:
- One Year Later: A look at Eaton Fire recovery efforts | January 8, 2026, Fox40 News
- 1 Year Later: Altadena residents attempt to rebuild their lives after Eaton Fire | January 8, 2026, Pasadena Weekly
- One year after the Los Angeles Fires | January 8, 2026, Afro-Conscious Media
- Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt a year after being burned down in LA-area wildfires | January 7, 2026, AP News
- The Palisades and Eaton fires, one year later | January 7, 2026, NPR’s “1A”
- The Los Angeles wildfires were ‘the perfect storm’. Is the city ready for the next one? | January 7, 2026, The Guardian
- A Year After Fires, L.A.’s Rocky Recovery Is Shaped by Wealth, Insurance and Red Tape | January 5, 2026, Wall Street Journal
- TAn uninsured Altadenan is determined to rebuild. Will the obstacles be insurmountable?| October 20, 2025, LAist
- Study results find wildfire rebuilding gaps in Altadena | October 13, 2025, CBS News LA/KCAL-TV
- Will Altadena residents ‘come home’? A new report seeks answers amid unsettling and mixed patterns | October, 9, 2025, Los Angeles Daily News
- Report: Altadena homeowners struggling to rebuild after Eaton Fire | October, 9, 2025, KNBC-TV
- Estudio: proceso de reconstrucción en Altadena es lento | October, 9, 2025, Telemundo 52-TV
- Racial Disparities in Wildfire Recovery | October, 9, 2025, KNBC-TV
- A new study from ucla says many homeowners in altadena are struggling to rebuild | October, 9, 2025, KTLA-TV
- 70% of damaged homes in Eaton Fire burn scar remain in rebuilding limbo, UCLA report finds | October, 9, 2025, ABC 7-TV
- UCLA found that nearly 7 and 10 homeowners are stuck in a rebuilding limbo | October, 9, 2025, KNX Radio
- UCLA Analysis Finds Altadena Faces Uneven Wildfire Recovery as Black, Latino, and AAPI Homeowners Struggle to Rebuild | October, 9, 2025, Altadena Now
