As Los Angeles begins to slowly reopen into a post-pandemic world, signaled by the lifting of mask mandates and the opening of indoor dining at restaurants, Los Angeles residents have a keen sense that the pandemic is still long from over.
At one point, L.A. County was at the epicenter of the nation’s COVID-19 crisis, with people of color, the homeless, and those in poverty receiving the brunt of the impact. Social justice movements over the past year have highlighted how COVID-19’s disparate impacts on different communities are ultimately rooted in compounding systemic inequalities. Lack of access to healthcare, secure housing, and the necessity for essential workers to work in-person resulted in massive environmental injustices- including the disproportionate amount of deaths that fell on the homeless and people of color.
The loss of lives and the permanent damages done to people’s health are irretrievable pains left by the major governmental shortcomings of the, city, state, and country. The lessons taken away from this traumatic moment need to be carried forward when planning for the city’s next steps.
How will the city government reform its approaches to city planning to build a Los Angeles that supports all of its residents and eradicate systemic injustices? Old methods of incorporating community input won’t cut it. City officials need to follow the lead of civic activists and community leaders by providing government funding and incorporating community lead efforts in city-wide planning.
One sector that is in dire need of some new ideas is housing. In a June 2020 report, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority revealed that 66,436 people in Los Angeles were left unhoused- a 12.7% increase from the previous year. Homelessness in the U.S. is a racial issue; 34% of homeless people in L.A. are Black, even though they make up only 8% of the city’s population. For those who do have housing, it is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Over half of L.A.’s residents are renters and 54% of them are rent burdened. Housing affordability is most directly linked to a lack of housing in the city.
A new budget proposal presented by L.A.’s Mayor Eric Garcetti shows great potential for housing improvements. The 2021-22 proposal allocates more money than ever before towards constructing affordable housing and funding homelessness projects. He allocated $362 million to 89 projects and 5,651 total housing units through Proposition HHH and nearly $200 million to develop affordable housing, homeless prevention, eviction defense, and other homeless services.
Although Mayor Garcetti’s proposal is promising, throwing money at old unproductive programs won’t improve L.A.’s homelessness or affordable housing crises.
Garcetti’s budget proposal allocates hundreds of millions dollars towards housing projects and services under Proposition HHH. Proposition HHH is an affordable housing bill that was passed in 2016. It received widespread support from residents, developers, and city officials alike- receiving an overwhelming 80% majority vote by Los Angeles voters. The $1.2 billion bond-measure was supposed to build 10,000 supportive housing units for LA’s homeless residents. These supportive housing units would not only provide permanent and temporary shelter for homeless people, but also other support services such as job training and drug treatment programs.
Despite the city’s dazzling promises, the program has done very little. Nearly 4 years after the bill was passed, the first ever housing project funded by Prop-H was finally completed in January of 2020. Major halts in construction stem from governmental disorganization and bad program implementation. Currently, programs targeting homelessness are interspersed throughout various departments of the government. This both hinders government coordination and makes it difficult to hold the government accountable for problematic programs, laws, and actions.
As the city makes major moves towards rebuilding its housing infrastructure, it is necessary that communities most impacted by homelessness and housing crises are included in the planning process.
City officials need to follow the lead of civic leaders and back up their new approaches and ideas with city dollars. Recently the Committee for Greater LA submitted a proposal that would hold the government accountable for its many failed homelessness projects. The proposal’s key feature is the development of a single unified agency, loosely referred to as ‘the center’. This agency would seat governmental officials, residents, and formerly homeless individuals to oversee all homelessness programs.
While this initiative may not be the cure all to homelessness, it is a positive step in the direction of community-led solutions.
The city needs the help of innovative community leaders with fresh ideas if they want to tackle the new post-lock down housing and homelessness crisis.