L.A.’s Skid Row Continues To Get Much Press
The L.A. Weekly published an article, “Where The Sidewalk Ends: Faith, Hope and Clarity on Skid Row.” It begins: “Distraught, displaced, dispossessed individuals walk in a zombie-like daze…” Here's the article.
The article also highlights a long-time homeless advocate, Mollie Lowery, the former executive director of Lamp Community. She says, “In the mid-60’s the powers-that-be in L.A. decided to preserve its Skid Row and provide the basics to survive so that the folks there would not venture into other areas of the city and county. This policy continues to this day.”
Don Spivack, of the Community Redevelopment Agency, calls this the “Containment Policy.” However, I would disagree that the policy continues to this day.
Frankly, it hasn’t worked. There is homelessness spread throughout the county. Why do you think we are in the middle of a debate on homeless “dumping”? Because the other communities that are experiencing homelessness don’t know what to do, but to try to send them back to downtown.
The article goes on: “Skid Rowers share many of the other traits that typify Los Angeles’ most revered citizens: determination, resilience, humor, political consciousness, sexiness, daring and artistic impulses that spring from the need to be treated with a certain degree of respect and dignity.”
I would agree with this statement. However, I would change “Skid Rowers” to “Most homeless people.”
I still feel that our community is searching for that “homeless tipping point,” a point in time when little events turn into a positive movement of change—when our community starts to rally around the idea that we can solve homelessness.
posted by LA's Homeless Blog at
8:27 AM
3 Comments:
WE have the opportunity to begin a new phase and new thinking in the midst of the creation of the types of densification in Downtown which should be happening .
We have the opportunity to begin to dismantle the failed policy of containment. The other containment whch is not mentioned in your post is the containment or rather the preservation of the Single Room Occupancy hotels in central City East( which you so aptly name skid row), of course it is Central City East.
This is not a new idea or revelation , the only success is the preservation and the rehabilitation of the Single Room Occupancy Hotels , that was a successful containement , the other policy of containement is a failure , utter and complete.
But I do beleive you missed the point. The policy of containement was never proposed to contian homelessness, but in the words of the design center, the skid row type person. I will post more of the policy of containment on my blog so you cna actually see what the policy of containment really is.
WE have the opportunity to begin a new phase and new thinking in the midst of the creation of the types of densification in Downtown which should be happening .
We have the opportunity to begin to dismantle the failed policy of containment. The other containment whch is not mentioned in your post is the containment or rather the preservation of the Single Room Occupancy hotels in central City East( which you so aptly name skid row), of course it is Central City East.
This is not a new idea or revelation , the only success is the preservation and the rehabilitation of the Single Room Occupancy Hotels , that was a successful containement , the other policy of containement is a failure , utter and complete.
But I do beleive you missed the point. The policy of containement was never proposed to contian homelessness, but in the words of the design center, the skid row type person. I will post more of the policy of containment on my blog so you cna actually see what the policy of containment really is.
Oh Yeah!
Before anyone misinterperets what I wrote above.
I am in utter disagreement with what the real containement poicy is. It makes me sick to my stomach when I read the 1976 design center recommendations.
On another note , keeping these folks out of the rest of the city was not he primary focus , the primary focus was to keep them out of the areas of revitalization and development, diuring hte years of teh City Business District Redevlopment project area. For the most part it has been succesfful as you will not see the - skid row type person - in the heart of the city center in large numbers.
Post a Comment
<< Home