Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been actively tackling the city's homelessness crisis with notable progress reported in Historic Filipinotown, where an Inside Safe operation successfully housed over 25 individuals from long-standing encampments. This follows similar efforts downtown at L.A. LIVE and the wider entertainment district earlier this week. According to Mayor Bass’s Office, these operations are part of an ongoing commitment to reduce homelessness, which has seen a decrease within Los Angeles for the first time in multiple years.
"Angelenos have come inside from more than 60 encampments across the city," Mayor Bass stated, emphasizing that the street is no place for anyone to live or to be near an encampment and she added her appreciation for Councilman Hugo Soto-Martínez's cooperation in confronting the crisis, as the two have been working closely to house individuals and dismantle these encampments, with the Downtown L.A.’s operation addressing multiple hotspots for homelessness and this newest action in Historic Filipinotown builds on last week’s efforts in Koreatown and the Westlake area. Councilmember Soto-Martínez praised the collaborative effort saying, "Thanks to our coordination with Mayor Bass, and trusted service providers, dozens of unhoused Angelenos will sleep tonight with a roof over their head and a bed of their own," as stated by the Office of the Mayor.
The recent 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count indicates promising trends: a decline in homelessness within the city for the first time in six years, a 10% drop in street homelessness—the first double-digit decrease in at least nine years, and a 38% decrease in makeshift shelters within the city limits. Furthermore, permanent housing placements have reached a record level. Mayor Bass’s office indicates that through the collective efforts of the City Council, County, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), these encampments have been reduced in every council district, with thousands more individuals receiving shelter compared to last year.
