The increase in Los Angeles mirrors trends playing out in cities across the country, including Phoenix, as a housing shortage has led to rising costs, squeezing families.
In Los Angeles, volunteers fan out over a couple of nights each January to visually count people who appear to be living outdoors or in vehicles.
Washington, D.C., has already reported an increase of 11 percent, while the Phoenix area said its homeless population was up 7 percent.
Los Angeles is hardly the only American city to struggle with homelessness, but its homeless population is disproportionately large, and about 30 percent of the nation’s homeless population lives in California.
As a result, Los Angeles is a kind of large-scale test case for which solutions work and which don’t.
Persons:
Karen Bass, ”, Adams, Bass, ” Ms
Organizations:
University of California, Homeless, Washington , D.C
Locations:
Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, California, Washington ,, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles County