(Mirror Daily, United States) – Over the last six years, Los Angeles’ homelessness rates skyrocketed 75%, with 55,000 people currently living on the streets. Experts believe that the problem has not happened overnight. It has been in the making for decades.
The number of homeless people in L.A. and countywide jumped 75% in six years. Around 75% of homeless people, or 41,000, are unsheltered, which means that they live on the streets, in cars, camps, and tents. This marks the largest group of people without a home in any U.S. city.
Many homeless people cannot keep up with the pace of the economic recovery as rents have reached record levels. In the past, they found shelter in crumbling buildings, but those constructions were taken down as the real estate market started to recover.
In 2013, when Mayor Eric Garcetti was elected the city’s homelessness problem worsened. The fact that the county’s Board of Supervisors reached a Democratic majority three years later didn’t help either.
In October, authorities found more than 200 encampments in the city, of which one-quarter hosted 30 or more homeless people. These sites have altered the landscape for other residents, as people find feces and rotting food literally on their doorsteps.
LA’s Real Problem is the Housing Shortage
Authorities and nonprofits have given a shelter to more homeless people than ever. But the city’s real problem is that there is a housing shortage, and authorities couldn’t move fast enough to absorb the tidal wave of new homeless people.
In the last year and a half, taxpayers agreed to fork out $4.6 billion to build homes for their less fortunate peers. LA hopes to build 10,000 housing units in a decade along with stronger supportive services.
Housing is expected to become more affordable after a developer tax was implemented. About $100 million more are expected to be directed to affordable housing projects every year.
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