Homelessness or Risk of Homelessness

While walking through the streets of West Hollywood we saw a handful of homeless people walking and sleeping on the sidewalks. Upon visiting city officials of West Hollywood many discussed the large amount of homeless people within the city. Deputies in the Sheriff’s Department described how there were many resources for the homeless in the city. The city has offered its homeless population housing in shelters that provide clothes, food, activities, and a warm place to sleep, However, most homeless people choose not to use these shelters for they do not want to be in an institutionalized program. The deputy stated that many prefer the freedom of living on the streets. He spoke of how homeless feel comfortable in West Hollywood especially since there are many services that are provided for them.

There are a plethora of places to get free meals and basic services. The Deputy cautioned us to be careful around the homeless because many homeless people suffer from mental illnesses and there have been incidences where homeless people have become aggressive. The number of homeless in West Hollywood contrasts with the cities clean and beautiful streets. I debated whether to photograph a homeless person to add affect to the blog, but for the privacy and self-respect of the homeless person I decided not to. Instead there are pictures of the clean, beautiful streets of West Hollywood, where the generosity of the city makes it a place of refuge for homeless people.

Another thing unique about West Hollywood is rent stabilization. While in the 1980's the City of Los Angeles was doing away with rent stabilization, West Hollywood insisted that they wanted to maintain its rent stabilization policy. The issue of rent stabilization was one of the major factors that pushed West Hollywood to seek status of being its own city in 1984. In the picture below you can see the rent stabilization counter in City Hall. Rent stabilization lets long time residence of West Hollywood the ability to continue living in the neighborhood even as rent prices sky rocket.