LA opening sites for car dwelling.

[ZoNiE]

Lots of opinions here. Good and Bad.

Rectal exams? I don't think so. Was that a joke?

I think the gist of it is good. Offer areas with proper toilets (as porta potties go), trash bins, require permits to prevent overcrowding, and the registration aspect of it while getting the permits isn't a bad thing. Do you want a child molester getting a permit in the same lot as a down on their luck family with young kids? I think not. Having vehicle dwellers in known locations also lets LEO know where they are to help keep the peace. Instead of LEO's shooing people away, they patrol and keep everyone safe.

 

[Sameer]

I would take advantage of the parking, and I think it is a good idea to provide parking. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, the city. I would like to return for a kind of a tourist-type of visit. I wouldn't care who I was parking with because I would only be using it for a few nights to park overnight and visit the city. I am sure they plan to have these places all over. May be they will have one near Long Beach.

 

[Ella1]

Will tents be permitted in those parking areas?

 

[Sameer]

I am sure that these would only be for people who live in their vehicles. People live in tents on the street on 5th Street below Main. Skid Row has changed since I was a kid as the gentry has moved in and taken over. Sidewalk cafes and everything. The 'real homeless' have moved out of the area to lower 5th. I think every city needs a Skid Row...I grew up in Boyle Heights and downtown was just a walk over the First Street bridge. Great times were had hanging out on Skid Row as a kid... When I was going to school I lived at the El Rey Hotel for 55 bucks a month to save money. That area was Skid-Row too. Very good memories...Very interesting people.

 

[ACagedTraveller]

I am sure that these would only be for people who live in their vehicles.  People live in tents on the street on 5th Street below Main.  Skid Row has changed since I was a kid as the gentry has moved in and taken over.  Sidewalk cafes and everything.  The 'real homeless' have moved out of the area to lower 5th.  I think every city needs a Skid Row...I grew up in Boyle Heights and downtown was just a walk over the First Street bridge.  Great times were had hanging out on Skid Row as a kid...  When I was going to school I lived at the El Rey Hotel for 55 bucks a month to save money.  That area was Skid-Row too.  Very good memories...Very interesting people.

The potential applications of this solution remain numerous since the present state of the homeless population in the City of Los Angeles includes insufficient beds in shelters and inadequate funds for the rehabilitation or housing sectors. This proposal might help to alleviate the law enforcement costs that originate from the removal of vandwellers and homeless individuals from various areas of the city.

 

[Sameer]

The potential applications of this solution remain numerous since the present state of the homeless population in the City of Los Angeles includes insufficient beds in shelters and inadequate funds for the rehabilitation or housing sectors. This proposal might help to alleviate the law enforcement costs that originate from the removal of vandwellers and homeless individuals from various areas of the city.

You are absolutely correct.  The cities have NO money to deal with this at all.  The shame is...  When the gentry moved in to the old (what was) Skid Row Hotels and the Skid Row area they pushed out the homeless down beyond 5th and San Pedro.  (nobody lived in tents on the sidewalk when I was a kid...that came when the gentry came)   When I was young that was a vibrant area even if is was poor and beyond poor.   I remember really crappy rooms for 6 bucks a night.  Always a chance of getting crabs in these places as I don't think they changed the sheets.    It is a shame that affordable housing is a thing of the past.  In those days a person could afford to work and pay rent even if it was so-called Skid Row.  A lot of this stems from the fact that nobody since Lindon Johnson has done anything about the problems in the inner city.  Lots disagree with me but that is why I think every major city needs a Skid Row.  I have to make this interesting and controversial observation.  Many people enjoyed life in that environment.  I grew up on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.  I liked it too.  Why I am not sure.  Everyone I met was Real.  I met the crazes too, but for the most part I enjoyed the reality of real life.  When I went to school I choose to live in that area when I could have lived with my parents, just across the First Street bridge.  Boyle Heights had it's own issues too.  But I preferred Downtown Los Angeles.  It is a shame that the inner cities have been forgotten and the poor and 'real homeless' have been pushed into other areas, while the gentry take over.  And visiting the area a year ago it is worse than a 'war zone'
Sorry for the 'rant' but this late at night in the middle of the Arizona desert...the old days bring back good memories.

 

[GotSmart]

http://news.yahoo.com/cities-trying-end-homelessness-165750972.html

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]How cities are trying to end homelessness[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Targeting specific homeless groups, many urban areas are now focusing on eradicating rather than just managing one of America's most intractable problems. First in a four-part series.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]For the first time in decades, communities across the United States are viewing one of the nation’s most intractable problems with fresh and hopeful eyes. They are talking about ending homelessness.[/font]
[/font]


[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The thrust in the past was often to reduce the problem or at least try to manage it. Cities whipsawed between being tough, instituting sweeps to remove homeless people from highly visible areas, and being compassionate, trying to provide temporary housing and some social services in the hope of keeping them off the streets. [/font]
[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Now some of them are focusing on specific groups of homeless people as a way to begin to solve the problem permanently. Many cities, for instance, have targeted homeless veterans in the wake of a challenge laid down by the Obama administration in 2010. In the past five years, the number of veterans living on the streets has declined by 47 percent. Several cities – including New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Houston – have eradicated the problem altogether.[/font][/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=small][font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Other cities are concentrating on helping homeless children and families. Many are setting more broad-based goals of eliminating homelessness for all people. Minneapolis is in the twilight of a 10-year plan, Heading Home Hennepin, to end homelessness in the area by 2016, while Milwaukee unveiled a plan this summer to eradicate chronic homelessness. Many of these initiatives have been accompanied by better coordination among public and private groups and, significantly, more money. [/font]
[/font][/font][/size]
[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]“At the local level, we are seeing greater political will than we ever have,” says Matthew Doherty, executive director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, a federal coordinating body. [/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]None of this is to say that homelessness doesn’t remain a significant problem. In recent months, authorities have declared homeless “states of emergency” in Hawaii, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Portland, Ore. Other locales have taken controversial steps to deal with the crisis on their streets: designating parking lots where people can sleep in their cars and building temporary housing out of repurposed shipping containers. The problem in many cities is sharply rising housing costs that people can no longer afford.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]“We’ve gotten to the stage in the economic recovery where there’s a lot of pressure in housing markets,” says Steve Berg, vice president for programs and policy of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Yet even in these desperate measures, some see a shift in thinking. Mr. Doherty, for one, says the emergency decrees represent an “increased awareness” of the problem by local politicians. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a $2.6 billion housing investment initiative to help the city’s homeless, while Los Angeles wants to devote $100 million to the problem. [/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Statistically, homelessness isn’t universally bad across the country. Between 2007 and 2015, the number of people sleeping on the street or in emergency shelters on a given night dropped by 12 percent, according to an annual survey by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last year, homelessness declined by at least 5 percent in 23 states. [/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]One reason for optimism among some advocates is that government agencies, service providers, and community groups are getting smarter in trying to solve the problem. In reframing the goal from alleviating to ending homelessness, they are finding more effective ways to prevent people from moving back to the streets and reaching out to those who might not seek help to begin with.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]For decades, the public image of homelessness typically featured single, middle-aged men struggling with mental illness and substance abuse issues, and the majority of shelters and services were designed with them in mind, says Mr. Berg. It has become more widely recognized, however, that people experiencing homelessness come from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances. While they all share an immediate need for housing, their other needs vary extensively.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Advocates say another key to the shift toward trying to end rather than just alleviate homelessness has been better coordination among groups serving the population and more backing from political leaders. “We have been able to see the greatest progress for ending homelessness among veterans because we have had bipartisan financial support for housing veterans,” Doherty says.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The remaining schedule of this series is as follows:[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Monday: What Minneapolis is doing to help homeless families.[/font]

[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Tuesday: New Orleans gets proactive with the homeless, especially veterans. [/font]
[font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=small][font='Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Wednesday: How a nun has made a difference for the homeless in Philadelphia.[/font][/font][/font][/size]

 

[buckwilk]

"including New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Houston – have eradicated the problem altogether." This may come as a surprise to the homeless vets on the streets in Phoenix and Salt Lake. I volunteered at shelters in both of these cities this past summer and can tell you that there are vets on the streets. The homeless problem will not be solved until authorities (hate that word) deal with mental disorders. A shower, food and a haircut doesn't "cure" anything. Alcohol is (my opinion, and most professionals) the biggest facilitator to homelessness. Almost every person I had conversations with blamed alcoholism to a big degree for their issues. I don't have any answers and, if the truth be told, I don't think anyone else has either. In the last 50 years over $22 Trillion has been spent on anti poverty programs in this country. That's three times the cost of all wars in U S history. The poverty rate is basically unchanged over these years. It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

 

[USExplorer]

It is more costly to be homeless in a big city than to live an enjoyable and fulfilling life with a farm family in Anywhere, USA. I was "homeless" for a week and a half in a small city, and it was the most difficult time of my traveling life. I still had it so much easier than most of the other homeless, in that I had an emergency fund for food, I was physically and mentally fit and able to search for a job and housing, I had rich family who would send me cash in an instant if I asked, and I had my trusty Explorer for shelter. I was only out of gas money. I chose instead to ask for work-stay housing at a local church and all turned out well. But, I completely understand why many turn to alcohol on a hard day and get addicted.

 

[SoulRaven]

It is very simple really.......the government needs to provide homeless people with housing. It works. Give homes to the homeless. Here are a couple examples where cities and governments are doing something that actually help the homeless.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/22/home-free

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/utahs-strategy-homeless-give-them-homes-n352966

Not put them in cars to live in parking lots. Who decided that was a good idea???? Next thing will be to let the homeless sleep in dumpsters for free. They are not trying to help the homeless, they just want to corral them out of the way. Pathetic

 

[darude]

The potential applications of this solution remain numerous since the present state of the homeless population in the City of Los Angeles includes insufficient beds in shelters and inadequate funds for the rehabilitation or housing sectors. This proposal might help to alleviate the law enforcement costs that originate from the removal of vandwellers and homeless individuals from various areas of the city.

id'e rather live in a van vs going to a shelter if I was in that kind of situation. I would feel a lot safer in a van vs going into a shelter and taking a chance of meeting some crazy person and getting into a conflict with them!! also i'm sure that my van would be cleaner than a homeless shelter as I found people saying that some shelters have roaches and bed bugs just something to think about. and there's no section 8 open in LA Burbank did open there doors this month but the app had to be post marked by the 8th so it's closed now.

 

[darude]

I think van dwelling car dwelling or what ever kind of dwelling should be legal. I don't see anything wrong with it. though I do agree to punish the ones that throw there trash all over the place and shit and piss in the streets!!!

 

[XFILE36]

I am mainly a city camper, in a window van, and I don't do stealth, I don't try to hide what I'm doing, and you can clearly see my lights on at night.

I don't check, or worry about anti-camping laws, only posted street signs.

I basically never have any problems.  Obvious campers don't scare people.

Off Grid 24/7,

Yes, but are you in L.A.?