L.A.'s homelessness surged 75% in six years. Here's why...

[downtoearth]

This article was really interesting to me. It's very interesting that they can raise tax-payer funds for shelters, but then have problems with NIMBY so badly the shelters are never built.

L.A.'s homelessness surged 75% in six years. Here's why the crisis has been decades in the making

The number of those living in the streets and shelters of the city of L.A. and most of the county surged 75% — to roughly 55,000 from about 32,000 — in the last six years. (Including Glendale, Pasadena and Long Beach, which conduct their own homeless counts, the total is nearly 58,000.)

Three out of four homeless people — 41,000 — live in cars, campers, tents and lean-tos, by far the biggest single group of unsheltered people in any U.S. city. If you took out Los Angeles, national homelessness would have dropped last year for the first time since the recession. People left behind by the economic recovery can't compete with young professionals who have bid rents up to record levels. In another era, they might have found refuge in crumbling hotels and tenements. But many of those buildings were lost in the city's post-recession spree of building, evictions and renovations.

Police Chief William J. Bratton in 2006 unleashed his "broken windows" campaign, issuing thousands of tickets to homeless people for minor offenses like jaywalking and throwing out cigarette butts. The streets cleared, but homeless people were arrested for unpaid tickets and bounced from jail back to skid row.

The county adopted a $100-million homelessness plan to build five regional homeless shelters, but a year later shelved it in the face of protests.

Federal courts repeatedly upheld civil rights challenges to the city's cracking down on homeless people without providing shelter space.

In 2006, the city settled litigation by signing the Jones agreement, which allowed homeless people to sleep overnight on sidewalks. The agreement set the stage for today's encampment explosion.

"We are dealing with historical consequences of bad decisions made 10 years ago to guarantee a right to sidewalks instead of a right to shelter," said Westside Councilman Mike Bonin.

www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-how-we-got-here-20180201-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar

[suburbanzookeeper]

We're 1.5 hours from LA and it's a huge issue across the region. No one wants the help in their backyard. 

This is the latest on the Orange County Riverbed homeless crisis: www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-homeless-lawsuit-20180129-story.html

[itsme]

Feb 1, 2018 12:02:46 GMT -5 suburbanzookeeper said:

We're 1.5 hours from LA and it's a huge issue across the region. No one wants the help in their backyard. 

This is the latest on the Orange County Riverbed homeless crisis: www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-homeless-lawsuit-20180129-story.html

Same.  It seems to have increased considerably in my area.  

[pitta12]

This is also a big problem here in the Seattle suburbs. There are signs posted around me that literally say "Shelter - YES! Eastgate - NO!" WTF.

[jigsy]

This whole city is crazy. I am one of the young professionals who is bidding up the rents here - but not by choice! Apartments that are being built are all luxury. Developers keep getting money to include affordable housing in the new builds, but then skirt the regulations. There was recently a story about the city suing some developers, but I haven't heard anything more about it.

Rent control, while I think has some value, is also a driver for higher rents for those new people moving in.

I just got a raise, and for the first time since moving here 4 years ago, I am paying less than 30% of my pay to rent - and I live in a no thrills building, in a studio, and I have to commute 40 minutes to an hour. I am doing really well for myself, but I still feel like I can't move closer to my job, which is near Santa Monica.

It isn't shocking that as wages continue to stagnant, and rents keeps rising, the homeless population is growing.
My first studio apartment when I moved here cost me $1,350 - 4 years later, that unit is now $1,735. Its ridiculous.

[ESF]

I didn't realize LA was worse than SF, but I suppose I should not be surprised. I can just imagine the problems they are having. The money is there, but city officials can't find the space because of political resistance.

In some cases, the opposition is a little more nuanced than just straightforward NIMBYism. There is some talk about putting homeless housing in my neighborhood and people are losing their minds. But because you can park here without a permit and there is a park with a public restroom, my neighborhood's streets are lined with people living in their RVs and cars. Plots here are tiny, so the homeless are practically already in their yards. A shelter would improve the situation enormously. And yet there are people objecting. From what I can figure out, they seem to think property values are going to be more impacted by a shelter, which is permanent, than RVs, which are "temporary." It's fucked up.

[sonrisa]

Feb 1, 2018 12:23:44 GMT -5 ESF said:

I didn't realize LA was worse than SF, but I suppose I should not be surprised.  

One other factor is the living conditions and weather. The health hazards of sleeping outside in cold cities is both an incentive for the city to build better homeless housing (since the alternative can be death) and also a draw for people who live on the streets. People naturally flow to places which are more habitable without housing. 

[Velar Fricative]

Similarly, the NIMBY mentality is why NYC is building quite a few new homeless shelters in the South Bronx. People live there, but you know, not the people who are going to be up in arms over it and will instead just sit and take it. Like, we need the shelters, but apparently they can only be located in poor black/Hispanic neighborhoods.

And ditto that homeless people are unfortunately already all around us, sitting outside, in cars/RVs, etc. I guess it's the permanence of housing and effect on property values that makes people go crazy.

[StrawberryBlondie]

My area has a floating homeless shelter at area churches. From what I understand, the churches took it upon themselves to partner and do this. It's apparently for single people only, and I don't remember if it was coed or single-sex.

A lot of people are supportive, but people on my Next Door were losing their ever loving minds. Apparently homeless shelters need to be in the country, or in an industrial area of the city.

[sugarbear]

It is so incredibly bad in Seattle-- I can't imagine an even worse situation. I feel like every public stretch of grass her has tents. And my Nextdoor is equal parts, "Let's feed them!" and "get off my lawn!"

[chw57]

Feb 1, 2018 13:25:40 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

It is so incredibly bad in Seattle-- I can't imagine an even worse situation. I feel like every public stretch of grass her has tents. And my Nextdoor is equal parts, "Let's feed them!" and "get off my lawn!"

Portland too. There’s a new shelter going in near my neighborhood (in an old, unused motel) and people are losing it. But also complain about people camping in parks, or on sidewalks, or parking RVs on streets...

[msmerymac]

Rents in LA are insane, and the gentrification of downtown has continued unabated, despite the best efforts of preservationists.

Today is the 5th anniversary of the last day I lived in California. The rent I paid then seems like SUCH a good deal now. And it never went up in the 5 years I lived in that apartment.

[sugarbear]

Feb 1, 2018 13:29:10 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Feb 1, 2018 13:25:40 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

It is so incredibly bad in Seattle-- I can't imagine an even worse situation. I feel like every public stretch of grass her has tents. And my Nextdoor is equal parts, "Let's feed them!" and "get off my lawn!"

Portland too. There’s a new shelter going in near my neighborhood (in an old, unused motel) and people are losing it. But also complain about people camping in parks, or on sidewalks, or parking RVs on streets...

We have a tiny house lot about two blocks from our house, which has brought increased police presence to our neighborhood and by all accounts, we've never been safer! But still, NIMBYs are freaked.

[msmerymac]

Feb 1, 2018 12:21:27 GMT -5 jigsy said:

This whole city is crazy. I am one of the young professionals who is bidding up the rents here - but not by choice! Apartments that are being built are all luxury. Developers keep getting money to include affordable housing in the new builds, but then skirt the regulations. There was recently a story about the city suing some developers, but I haven't heard anything more about it.

Rent control, while I think has some value, is also a driver for higher rents for those new people moving in.

I just got a raise, and for the first time since moving here 4 years ago, I am paying less than 30% of my pay to rent - and I live in a no thrills building, in a studio, and I have to commute 40 minutes to an hour. I am doing really well for myself, but I still feel like I can't move closer to my job, which is near Santa Monica.

It isn't shocking that as wages continue to stagnant, and rents keeps rising, the homeless population is growing.
My first studio apartment when I moved here cost me $1,350 - 4 years later, that unit is now $1,735. Its ridiculous.

I moved to my duplex in West Hollywood in 2008. Two small bedrooms, a small bath, 3 closets, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and 2 parking spaces. Wait for it - $1750/month. At the time, I could have rented a 2 bedroom in Valley Village or something for around $1500, but we liked the location and the charm of a 1920s Spanish style bungalow. Like I said, our landlord loved us and never raised our rent. Our neighbor's rent was way lower - like $1300 - because he had been there longer and West Hollywood has excellent rent control. 

My BFF just moved closer to her job in North Hollywood from Koreatown because her rent on her 1 bedroom was going up to $1900. She's paying $1400, I think, for a 1 bedroom now. I think the average 1 bedroom rent in West Hollywood is over $2300. 

[sushi]

You wouldn't believe the bitching on my next door. Very much nimby. And it's true there are homeless camps on the beach and in cars and on the sidewalks. But literally every day someone does "patrol" (their term) and refers to these people as essentially animals. I'm regularly horrified.

The city doesn't fund drug or mental health treatment. No shelters or other programs. We're one of the biggest cities in la county.

It reminds me of living in Honolulu where the homeless czar (his actual title) referred to taking out the trash before visitors when referring to a sweep before apec. This was after cameras were off at a neighborhood meeting I attended.

ETA I won't tell you my rent, but bah (basic allowance for housing, military stuff) is over 3k.

[picksthemusic]

Feb 1, 2018 12:06:03 GMT -5 pitta12 said:

This is also a big problem here in the Seattle suburbs. There are signs posted around me that literally say "Shelter - YES! Eastgate - NO!" WTF.

I was reading an article several weeks ago about a place in Tacoma that would house domestic violence victims and their families, but it may not be able to be funded if the budget doesn't pass.

www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/article195013104.html 

There were so many comments about why should they get a nice, new apartment with a view for FREE? Even though the housing is temporary. The attitudes towards the homeless are so vile.