Electrical Rewiring
The number one complaint for many tenants in S.R.O.’s is the lack of adequate electrical capacity. Electrical code requires only that buildings be up to code for the year in which they were built, and since most hotels were built in the early part of the 20th century, they are ill-equipped to handle modern appliances such as microwaves, televisions, and computers. As a result, there are frequent power outages in the hotels, and turning on even one appliance can throw the breaker. In the spring of 2003, hotel tenants on Sixth Street formed an unusual alliance with hotel owners to fight for the creation of a workable Redevelopment Agency program to give forgivable loans to owners who agreed to electrically rewire their hotels. In the end, the neighborhood won and the program was approved despite the opposition of the Redevelopment staff.
