LOS ANGELES -- The 405 Freeway underpass along Venice Boulevard has become a flashpoint in the escalating homelessness crisis plaguing Southern California.
The road is a border between worlds. On the north side of the famed street is Los Angeles -- and a sidewalk packed with sun-bleached tents, dirty sleeping bags, bikes in various states of disrepair and even a few surfboards belonging to residents of the underpass’ homeless population. On the south side is Culver City, a storied moviemaking hub and a peaceful suburban oasis.
On a recent weekday morning, Culver City’s side was noticeably bereft of any sign of the homeless sprawl just across the street, save for a lone tent.
Scenes like this are apparent across the Los Angeles region, where homeless camps and tent cities have cropped all over the city of Los Angeles while just across the border in suburbs like Culver City, Manhattan Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes these encampments are nowhere to be seen. This disparity has infuriated Los Angeles city councilmembers and led to claims that L.A.’s neighbors are not just shirking their responsibility in tackling the region’s homeless crisis, but are actively pushing the homeless into L.A.’s city limits.
The road is a border between worlds. On the north side of the famed street is Los Angeles -- and a sidewalk packed with sun-bleached tents, dirty sleeping bags, bikes in various states of disrepair and even a few surfboards belonging to residents of the underpass’ homeless population. On the south side is Culver City, a storied moviemaking hub and a peaceful suburban oasis.
On a recent weekday morning, Culver City’s side was noticeably bereft of any sign of the homeless sprawl just across the street, save for a lone tent.
Scenes like this are apparent across the Los Angeles region, where homeless camps and tent cities have cropped all over the city of Los Angeles while just across the border in suburbs like Culver City, Manhattan Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes these encampments are nowhere to be seen. This disparity has infuriated Los Angeles city councilmembers and led to claims that L.A.’s neighbors are not just shirking their responsibility in tackling the region’s homeless crisis, but are actively pushing the homeless into L.A.’s city limits.
LA tent city by haymarketrebel is licensed under Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
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