Sunday, May 15, 2016

West Hollywood's Growing Homeless Population

Not sure if you've noticed it, but there has been a huge spike in homeless people in West Hollywood. On any given night or early morning you can find one or two hanging out sleeping in front of City Hall. This could be due to all the construction in the area. I spoke to a friend that lives near Miracle Mile and there are a lot of new buildings popping up and the homeless seem to be doubling. And these are not the quiet ones I am familiar with and give nicknames to like Ogg, Clarinet Hobo, The Model, and Red Riding Hood. These are some tweaked out psychos that scream at people or fight and the police arrive 45 minutes later to do a drive through Gold Coast's parking lot when the coast is clear.

LA Independent stated that according to a city spokesperson “The 2016 street count tallied 87 homeless people in the city, up from 43 that were counted last January. The city will work with the homeless services authority to determine whether the increase is unique to the city or if the numbers reflect a trend across the region.” The homeless I see are not young or families which cities and people tend to care more about. If you're a grown ass man, then, well...sucks to be you. Women and children first and all that. I won't even get started on all the new tweakers in the area. My god. There is Marilyn Monroe and his tattooed friend aggressively dumpster diving. The Tasmanian Devil that shows up and screams about gays going to hell while getting free boxes from Out Of The Closet and clearing out his SUV.

There are programs and vouchers for homeless and people needing a place to stay. But if you don't know these exist then you're just assed out. And you can't force someone to get help. There are homeless people here that just want to get fucked up. They want to drink. They are not medicated. This city, and a lot of other places, have let this get to a point where there is no clear response that can be taken. 

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