The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released the results of its 2024 homeless count, which, to everyone’s surprise, showed the first decrease since 2018.
“For years, we have seen an increase in homelessness and we have felt it in our neighborhoods. But we have embraced change, changed the trajectory of this crisis, and led Los Angeles in a new direction,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a news release. “By accepting the status quo, putting politics aside, and working together, there is nothing we can’t do. I thank the City Council, County Board of Supervisors, LAHSA, our state, federal, local partners and service provider partners for working together to confront this crisis with urgency. This is not the end, it’s the beginning. We will build on this progress together.”
The city’s street homelessness has decreased by 10 percent and temporary shelter numbers have fallen by 38 percent, according to a city news release. This comes as the city continues to aggressively work to get people indoors through its “Inside Safe” initiative.
Overall, Los Angeles County as a whole is still estimated to have more than 75,000 homeless people, though this is a slight decrease. Similarly, the city of Los Angeles has a homeless population of about 45,000 people, down 2.2 percent from the previous year.
Rendering of a high speed train from California High Speed Rail
This week, the California High Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors approved the project’s final environmental documents for the 38-mile section between Palmdale and Burbank, marking the final environmental permit between downtown San Francisco and downtown Los Angeles, making almost the entire first phase of the project “ready to break ground.” The final part of the first phase, between downtown and Anaheim, is still in the environmental review stage.
Here are the books I’m reading this week:
Supreme Court upholds rough sleeping ban in homeless case “The case could have broad implications for how cities across the country address homelessness.” (NY Times)
LA Receives Millions to Convert Landfill into Park “The California Wildlife Conservation Commission has approved a $12.5 million grant to help LA County convert the Puente Hills Landfill into a large park. The funding aims to restore native chaparral, coastal sage scrub and grassland habitat as part of an effort to increase biodiversity in an area that has long been degraded.” (LAist)
Ford opens EV development center in Douglas Park: “The 250,000-square-foot facility will include offices, labs and design studios for up to 450 employees.” (Long Beach Watchdog)
How warehouse development is transforming Inland Empire communities “For the past 15 years or so, this once rural town bordering the cities of Fontana, Rialto and Jurupa Valley has been surrounded by warehouses built to support online shopping habits and the supply chain corridor from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, whose pipelines are among the Southland’s biggest sources of health-damaging, global-warming pollution.” (LAist)
Spotlight on the Streets: Reseda Boulevard Complete Street Project “Reseda Boulevard now has the longest continuous bike lane in Southern California: 3.9 miles long” (Streetsblog LA)
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