Homelessness In Los Angeles Reaches “Third World Conditions,” According To Locals

The city now has over 36,000 homeless people living on the streets in tents, under bridges, or anywhere they can find shelter.

The number of homeless people living in Los Angeles has risen quickly in the last few years. The current figure is 36,000, an increase of 16% from 2018. “Homelessness is a massive emergency in our city. It’s a crisis unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said. Beyond the city of Los Angeles, LA county has seen a 12% increase in homelessness from 2018. Officials are reportedly “stunned,” according to the LA Times. This comes as a serious reality check, as LA county’s multi-billion dollar effort to curb homelessness has failed to even slow down the number of people who are forced to live on the streets.

The number of homeless people living in LA county is currently 59,000, and the conditions they live in are appalling by any metric. The majority of the homeless in LA county, 75%, live outside, which has led to public health concerns over the amount of rats and trash surrounding outdoor encampments downtown. When it comes to the solution, there is an unfortunate lack of good ideas that could fix the reality of a lack of affordable housing in the area. The shortage of affordable housing is also driving rent prices up even further, pushing more people onto the streets in a vicious cycle of poverty. Officials are still trying to come to terms with how fast the numbers of homeless people are increasing, despite the amount of money being invested to mitigate the problem.

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5 years ago