update:Outdoor dining great for criminals: Food trucks robbed in LA

Yeah.... basically. I was an idiot that thought I had to prove something, and Los Angeles was perfect for that. I can still see why people like the town but I will just say that it isn't what it seems. I was humbled really quick on a lot of fronts, from financial to priorities.

 

If anyone is curious it is known that there are approximately 15-20K long term homeless people in LA and there are about 60-70K people that yo yo between being homeless, staying with friends and low cost housing.

Right now it is estimated by non partisan studies that the amount of homeless in Los Angeles will increase 90% over the next 5 years.

There are also a lot of people that are living in cars, and it is hard to get an accurate number of people to estimate.

California has seen the number of unsheltered homeless people skyrocket, in large part due to people outside of California that are homeless moving in, and also a housing crisis that no one is really all the inclined to fix. There are real consequences for this, as drug use greatly increases as some crime when the number of homeless increase.

Right now California has nearly 10 times as many unsheltered homeless people as any other state in the USA..... over half of all the unsheltered homeless in the USA are in California.

Last I looked New York city had nearly 100K homeless people, BUT 95% of the homeless in New York are sheltered, while the number in Los Angeles is only 25%.

In the USA, 75% percent of all homeless have access to shelter and food.

Currently California, and Los Angeles in particular are aware of the rapidly growing problem and are attempting to change how they deal with homelessness.

For every 65,000 new people that move into LA, only 2,000 new housing units are built.

Anyway, it is off topic but it is my passion.

 

Little Cali going downhill fast

 

How many people are leaving LA when those 65k people who move in? That's the key stat. Is there growth there that outstrips the housing or is it the job market that isn't keeping up? Or is it just that LA is a sweet place to live outside?

Also lease give us stats for homeless people moving from LA to Little Cali (Austin).

 

Is it even real tho?

 

How many of those people want to be homeless?

I know some people like living that way or do you think that's because of mental illness?

Maybe I have just seen to many episodes of Law and Order.

 

They got the watch tho.

I was wrong that they showed it in that video.

If anybody wants one, I know a guy.

 

Zero are leaving (moving out is already figured in).... that number is the total increase in population increase over a period of time in the Los Angeles county. Essentially every 20-40 years Los Angeles and the surrounding area has a population spike and it has been pretty consistent. The problem has been that the last few spikes have not had any real increase in housing options..... so essentially there are 65K more people but only 2000 more housing units, and most of those were very expensive housing developments. The same thing has happened in San Francisco. Essentially, the powerful and wealthy in Los Angeles and San Francisco have used their clout to constrict the production of any substantive new housing except for the ultra rich.

Los Angeles is better to live outside than New York or many places, and that explains why some homeless move there. That also has kept Los Angeles from increasing shelter. Also, there is a lot of pressure to essentially gut Skid Row, were ten thousand homeless people live in Los Angeles.

As for Austin, we expect the homeless situation to be very bad in the next 10-20 years regardless of how Austin's economy goes. If Austin continues to grow, it will be an attraction to those that are homeless or the young that run away and end up homeless. The increase in housing costs and the type of development are going to lead to a big homeless problem. At this point Austin hasn't been a major city, so the rates are very inaccurate. There was recently an effort made to count them and the rough estimate is that the homeless rate in Austin is growing at at least 11% a year. A lot of conservatives claim the increase in homelessness in Austin is because of the Austin law that has allowed homeless camping. The reality is that the rate of homelessness in Austin is like 3-4 times what the estimates are, and that the growth rate is closer to what we see in LA than what we see in Houston.

 

If you are asking how many of them want to be homeless? The answer is close to zero. They don't want to sleep on the streets or underpasses or in bed bug loaded shelters. They almost all want a safe place to live.

If you are asking how many of them want a 9-5 job, and to live like larger society? More than you would think. There are a lot of working homeless in Los Angeles. They have a job, but do not make enough money to afford an apartment. They typically live out of a backpack and once a week will stay in a hotel to clean up, sleep safely and clean their clothes. These people can usually afford food, spend their days in places like the library and are usually sleeping in areas you would never find them. They are typically not drug users. They do not look poor when you see them. You may see people like this often close to where you live. They have a backpack, you assume they live by you and they are taking the bus or walking to work.


Then there are the people that live in the cars. Some of these people have substance abuse problems, but the vast majority are people that recently had housing and lost it. They will typically drive around town to find some place to sleep. They used to pick Wal Mart parking lots until that was cracked down. These are usually older people that don't have any relatives or friends to take them in. Most of these people will tell you they never expected to be homeless and don't want friends to know.

Then there are the young people that ran away from abusive situations, were sex trafficked or have some reason they were kicked out of their homes. These cases almost always involved sexual assault once on the street, and drug use and prostitution is almost certain. These people are usually young and many will tell you they want to be homeless. They like the lifestyle of no responsibility. The problem is they are very young. Many of them will end up permanently homeless, dead or in prison.

Then there are people that are homeless because of either a mental issue, or because of alcoholism or drug addiction. Crack, heroin, fent and meth are the usual drugs of choice. Many of the people you see sleeping on the sidewalk fit this group. Over the years many of them get used to not having responsibility for anyone else. Some of these people do not want to fit in modern society.

However, the short answer to your question is that the overwhelming majority of homeless people do not want to be homeless. I cannot tell you how hard it is to sleep without walls and roaches, mice or people can do anything they want to you.

 

The hotels are nicer than the permanent housing. Homeless people are smarter than you give them credit for.

 

I bought an elite Patel Philippe on Harwin once.

 

Are you jealous of those homeless people?