Daily Mail: Welcome to Skid Row 2017: Shocking scale of homelessness in downtown LA is exposed in footage showing sidewalks lined with dozens of tents in deprived area where 20,000 people live on the streets
* Three-minute LiveLeak clip shows the brutal reality of Christmas Day in the underbelly of Downtown LA
* Shot on 5th Street, 6th Steet and San Pedro in the Skid Row district, it captures life in one of the city's most notorious homeless hotspots
* Rubbish bags litter the streets and tents have been erected to shelter residents - including women and children
* Rising cost of living in California is also forcing middle class residents to live in their cars in affluent areas
Rubbish bags piled up by the pavements and littered across streets.
Tents erected in clusters where people have camped down for the night.
Dozens of directionless residents congregating by the roadside and wandering into the road.
This is what Christmas Day looked like for thousands of homeless people in the dark and dingy underbelly of Downtown Los Angeles this year.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This crisis has been years in the making .... very little if any coverage in the news media then. So why all the coverage now?
"This crisis has been years in the making .... very little if any coverage in the news media then. So why all the coverage now?"
ReplyDeleteBecause what you had to look for in the past, has reached crisis levels and is visible everywhere you look.
The LA/SF/Silicon Valley homeless arn't camping in the parks anymore, the parks are full, they arn't hidden in the canyons, greenspaces and alleys anymore, they are all full. The van's, campers and car's arn't parked in the suburb malls anymore.
And the homeless arn't just veterans, the elderly, those on welfare, the disabled and mentally ill, people with addictions or even the working poor.
They now include the Middle Class.
Reminds me of the previous Guilded Age.
Jay,
ReplyDeleteBecause my brother lives in San Mateo, and I have friends who live in L.A. .... I go there at least once .... maybe two times a year. I first noticed the massive homelessness problem in the Bay area around 2010. It has not changed much since then .... with the exception of the areas near the tech farms where people are now living in mobile homes. But the media is only now covering the homeless problem .... though like I said .... this has been problem since 2010. As for L.A. .... it was after the housing crash in 2008-2009 that I saw how massive the homeless problem was. I was there last Christmas .... after a decade it has not changed at all. But at least they are finally getting the attention that it is due.
Now as Canadians .... we have a homeless problem, but it is not as bad as it is in the U.S.. But we both know that it is going to get worse. The Canadian government is committed to letting in one million immigrants in the next three years .... but with no plan on to house them. We both know what this means. High demand and not enough supply .... hence massive property increases and high rents. And for those who cannot make ends meet .... the street.
https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3074742
DeleteSame thing going on down here in San Diego, throw in a hepatitis outbreak...no bueno. From what I see on my daily walks, most of these people are traveling hobos that like the warm weather, lots of young people with their dogs, it's quite a surreal scene.
ReplyDeleteFreaking insane. Being homeless is always bad. Being homeless and poor in a rich country is especially cruel as the means would be there to help everyone and you get to see every day on telly/in ads how the 1% or even just the 20% live. Secluded, shielded, with great healthcare, several cars, 6-7 figure jobs, private fitness trainer, family, pets, pool, great food, awesome babes/studs everything...
ReplyDeleteI hope China will not copy this part.
But what Canada seems to be planning sounds crazy as well. But then again, if societies don't grow/have enough children, they shrink and age. ..but surely there must be better ways while still helping the poor and fleeing
Since 1990, immigration has be a large driver of both population growth, ( roughly 8 million immigrants), and that large growth in Canada's population, ( roughly 27%) has been the main driver of a 60% growth in GDP since 1990.
DeleteThat still leaves us with a population density of 4 people per square km, the US has 35 per sq km, Russia has 9 people per sq km, Sweden has 24, Norway has 17, Scotland has 67.
ReplyDeleteWhy now?
Because a Republican is in office and then propagandists and narrative readers are dutiful behaving like the little Eichmanns that they are.
"'WaPo': Now That Obama's Been Gone a Year, America Returns to Misery"
https://www.truthrevolt.org/news/wapo-now-obamas-been-gone-year-america-returns-misery
In the 2nd tweet of the linked article by Razor says it all. It is a subterfuge and a meme we know all to well.
Anon,
ReplyDelete"I hope China will not copy this part."
Ever seen a campfire in an abandoned building in Shanghai? They already have poverty there. China is not coping horribly, but they are not coping well. It is why they abandoned single payer health care.
Private fitness trainers are good idea. They are way of parting money on mutually agreeable terms (& without force) from those, who make 6 or 7 figures. It is a way of keeping people employed in an age of automation.
Smart people shield themselves rich or not.
I do not begrudge the rich gated communities. I do take issue with rich ______ for taking certain policies on crime immigration and terrorism whole they lived in gated communities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_walled_village
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujian_Tulou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaolou
LA, a Democrat city in a Democrat run state that until less than a year ago was in a a Democrat run Nation.
ReplyDeleteExtreme poverty? Hepatitis A epidemic?
Not a shocker.
Here in Oakland the problem has exploded only 3-4 years ago. It paralleled a change in city policy that was not explicit*. And, parenthetically, the reasons given for this explosion of homeless encampments, are not well supported by any evidence. There have been no mass layoffs. Rents have gone up but the people you see in the homeless camps are not the recently employed. San Francisco is sueing the state of Nevada for giving bus tickets (and I guess a box lunch) to homeless they'd like to reside somewhere other than Nevada.
ReplyDeleteWhat is notable is that in the last 3-4 years city policy changed from "no tolerance" to tolerance. One has to question whether this is accident or coincident or just an application of Alinsky's wisdom.
The reality has political advantages for some and I don't think they should be ignored.
*it used to be that homeless camps, which were much smaller, were busted and cleaned up. Now, despite the fire dangers and lack of sanitation and the failure to meet normal standards of health safety and welfare that everyone else must follow, often at not trival expense, the abuse of normal standards is overlooked.
https://www.google.ca/amp/www.sfgate.com/bayarea/amp/Homeless-count-in-Alameda-County-finds-5-629-11173433.php
DeleteJay,
ReplyDeleteCornwall (Ontario) has a similar program like Moose Jaws' to take care of the homeless (the GF volunteers at a soup kitchen, and she focuses on providing care to young girls/women). I do not know what the situation is like in Moose Jaw, but I do know in Cornwall many of the homeless are indigenous people from the neighboring reservations. Unfortunately .... many of these homeless only stay temporarily, where once they have some money they head to the big cities. I know that in Montreal the homeless population has exploded in the past few years because of this. No homeless in Cornwall .... because they all moved elsewhere, and then cycle begins again. I also know that Montreal rents and home prices .... that have always been historically low in Canada .... have exploded because of demand. As to where is this demand coming from .... not far from where I live is a complex of apartment buildings that newly arrived immigrants go to. No more now .... there is no more room. So to solve this crisis, other alternatives are found, and none of them are cheap .... and all that it does is drive up rents for everyone else.
The solution is to build .... but the economics to build (at least in Quebec) just makes no sense. No one can make money .... and you cannot sell a property to make money because no one has the money or credit to buy it at the price where you can make a profit. Condos do provide a healthy profit margin .... but I do not know how long that is going to last.
As an immigrant .... I do know the drive that immigrants can bring to a country. I came in the wave after the breakup of the Soviet Union .... all of us worked like hell to succeed here. But the new batch of immigrants from eastern Europe .... different altitude completely. A sense of entitlement coupled with expectations that the government will take care of them. Bottom line .... these people are not going to drive our GDP.
Jay,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the SF article. I have been spending the past hour reading up on the homeless in the Bay area and in Montreal. One memory of San Francisco that I will never forget was in Chinatown about 10 years ago. There were hundreds of Chinese homeless outside a soup kitchen waiting to get in. I said to myself at the time .... if the Chinese cannot take care of their own .... you know that your society is in trouble.
But my worse experience of seeing the homeless was in Moscow around 1992 when the entire system collapsed. The homeless that existed in Moscow would make the above video on the homeless in LA look pale in comparison. It was only when Putin implemented policies to provide housing to those who could no longer afford a home that this crisis passed. It is also one of the many reasons why many Russians are loyal to Putin ... even to this day.
WNU Editor,
DeleteHomelessness across Canada is "unique" to every city/town/region. There is no "one size" fit's all. Vancouver for example, is starting to struggle with the realization that low wage employee's, can't afford to live in Vancouver, or even within transit range of Vancouver, but the City can't run without people doing those jobs.
The homelessness of First Nations vary greatly by region, status and treaty. In rural BC for example, First Nations Corporations have become a regional economic driver, and innovative solutions are being used to solve Reserve Housing issues. There's not a lot of First Nations homeless. In Urban BC however, there is a large First Nations Homeless population, most have lost status, or are from outside BC where the Treaty process has stripped the Nations of land, resources and self management. The largest population of homeless in Urban BC is however, the mentally ill. The BC Socred's/"Liberals" response to the litany of abuses and neglect in Mental Health Facilities, was not to improve services, foster better supervision and management, vet and pay better staff, but instead, close down the facilities, give the mentally ill welfare and disability, and let them "self manage" on their own.
The process "saved" the Province roughly $20K per Patient, but transferred roughly $100K in new costs, ( medical, policing, court, shelter, food) to the Munincipalities, other areas of the Provincial budget, and of course, Charities.
There is no "one size fits all" solution.
"That still leaves us with a population density of 4 people per square km, the US has 35 per sq km, Russia has 9 people per sq km, Sweden has 24, Norway has 17, Scotland has 67."
ReplyDeleteThrow out the tundra, Baffin Island (and similar places). Basically throw out Nunavut and recompute population density.
In the U.S. you can throw out part of the West (maybe large parts).
The Romans taxed land according to whether it was arable, grazing land only, etc. Property tax in America is graded according to the repair of farm buildings, greenways (encourage soil conservation, etc.
To merely population by total land area is not the way to go. One might also look at tech level (access to). Compare Haiti (Moonscape) & the Dominican Republic.
Up until about the 19th century cities were population sinks due to disease (until modern sanitation and medicine). Yet they grew because the country had a surplus. I submit that cities are again population sinks and I blame graft corruption and tax rate. Now instead of the country side having the surplus, other countries do. This is just papering over the problem. ( The elites do not have intelligence to govern. They do not have the knowledge.
They have degrees and thus the smugness, but they do not have the diversity in degrees to actually rule well. Also knowledge is a perishable skill. Take for example Shield Jackson Lee. She has 2 degrees with the last one being a JD. Having a JD shows a lack of diversity in Congress. Assuming she was not given her degree, does one not at least question whether her knowledge is not perishable? She asked if the Mars Rover could not travel to where the Flag was planted on the Moon.) Politicians say they want immigration to make up for the low birth rate, but it is the policies of the politicians that cause the low birth rate in significant measure. The Merkel comes to mind.)
I also note the regressive tax rate of progressive countries. My communist trained spouse was upset at the regressive tax rate of the regressively run countries of the west. They are good with paying a fixed rate, but not a regressive rate. It holds back production, demand and supply. It holds back GDP. The Left is never honest about this.
What Nevada does or does not do would not make a difference if California would "chase people out of poverty."
ReplyDeleteThat is what Ben would say and he was right. Ben did not say do not provide charity or aid.
Most of the poor from Nevada (3/4 or better) came from outside of Nevada I bet.
ReplyDeleteThe ditz's of California can sue all they want.
Assuming the Californicators of the state assembly win Nevada can be as creative as California. California want to designate their school districts as charities and thus a tax write off. This would be tax shifting to residents of out states.
Well Nevada can have PSA in other states giving a comparison of homeless benefits by state (CA vs NV) and their U3 rate and what jobs are needed. That way people with low prospects looking for a job will go to California and bypass California.
For those homeless already in Nevada, they can printout brochures, which show the difference in welfare benefits. Nevada does not have to pay bus fare for any homeless and thus could not get sued. The Homeless could beg for it and still end up in California. I am sure the homeless would be able to beg for bus fare. Begging is quite lucrative from what I have heard locally. It would probably be better in Las Vegas.
Beside LA is warmer than Las Vegas. Tell the homeless that.
Correction
ReplyDelete"... for a job will go to California and bypass California."
"... for a job will go to California and bypass Las Vegas."
BC mentally ill homeless. ... Ronald Reagan's fault.
ReplyDelete"Here in Oakland the problem has exploded only 3-4 years ago"
ReplyDeleteNever happened. Obama was president and Democrats ran the cities and state of California.
So this never happened. You would be wise to not say such lies or someone from some liberal outfit will visit you. It is what the Left does.
Jay,
ReplyDeleteLast night I went to see a friend for coffee in downtown Montreal. It was -25C last night, and I used the metro system to get to my friend (no parking because of our Xmas snowstorm). I have never seen that many homeless people in the metro station (Peel metro station) than I did last night. And the shocking thing was that they were a lot of young girls there.
The Guilded Age .... it looks like it.