The discussion about the homeless in Los Angeles could go on for days, but I’ve noticed something else recently -
There are many more homeless men and women in our neighborhood.
This isn’t me ranting about the homeless being in our area or anything like that. Just an observation.
If you’ve never been to the LA area than take my word for it when I say you can’t walk, drive or whatever for 30 seconds without seeing a homeless person.
We’ve always had such disadvantaged people outside Ralph’s and walking in the area but more and more I notice people sleeping on the sidewalks in the South Park neighborhood.
Just an observation.
I guess its a mix of factors- the recession and the demand is higher than the supply of services for those that need and more importantly want them.
I’ve seen the BIDS(business improvement district security) especially around little tokyo area “shoo” them away from panhandling.
I had an interesting interaction/observation with one this past week at the mc donalds over in the fashion district and i just blogged about it
I’ve noticed it too, especially in the Historic Core. It’s getting really bad. And the sad thing is I’m seeing more people who are well-dressed and obviously haven’t been homeless for long. I’ve also heard that there’s an influx of working class families into the shelters, people who’ve never been homeless before and have kids. So awful.
I just commented on this yesterday. Two people who obviously haven’t been homeless for very long were pushing a shopping cart, and it looked strange to me because they didn’t ‘look’ homeless at all.
The economy has really started affecting homelessness in the region, and that’s apparent to anyone who walks around Downtown these days. I don’t understand why LA is expected to deal with this problem by itself. We need federal and state aid. It’s not fair to Angelenos or to those seeking services.
It’s like the Grapes of Wrath!