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Housing and Homelessness

The affordable housing crisis to grow in California. Learn about legacies of racist housing policy as well as gentrification and other causes of homelessness. Follow conversations on zoning, rent relief, city spending and housing trusts as the state grapples with this urgent issue.

Rising mortgage rates increase cost of living for millions
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7:50
PBS News Hour

Rising mortgage rates increase cost of living for millions

How cities are converting vacant offices into housing
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7:59
PBS News Hour

How cities are converting vacant offices into housing

Study provides new insights into homelessness in California
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6:21
PBS News Hour

Study provides new insights into homelessness in California

Local Policies

A homeless man sleeps on the sidewalk of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard
L.A. City Council OKs Added Funding to Wind Down Project Roomkey Sites
Los Angeles City Hall rises behind a sidewalk homeless encampment in Downtown Los Angeles.
L.A. Council Bans Homeless Encampments Near Schools After Another Disruption
Tents set up on the sidewalk on Skid Row.
9:46
Democracy Now!
L.A. Bans Homeless Encampments Near Schools, Activists Demand Real Solutions to Housing Crisis
a row of tents on the sidewalk next to a Walt Disney Concert Hall directional sign
L.A. City Council Votes to Restrict Encampments
Los Angeles officials say the ban was enforced for health and safety reasons, but a federal court disagreed, ruling that the law targeted L.A.'s homeless community.
Winning a Battle, But Losing the War: Court Overturns L.A. Ban on Living in Cars
People experiencing homelessness clean the area around their tent shelters before a Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation cleanup sweep of homeless encampments in the area during the Covid-19 pandemic
County Board Approves $10 Million, Looks to Lease Full Buildings for Homeless Post Pandemic

Solutions for the Unhoused

safe parking.jpg
8:04
SoCal Connected
Converting Parking Lots into Temporary Shelters for 'Vehicular Homeless'
A masked hotel worker pulls a hotel bell cart holding backpacks and trash bags through a parking garage.
15:54
Democracy Now!
L.A. Ballot Measure Would Let Unhoused People Stay in Hotels Amid Deepening Homeless Crisis
Homelessness Downtown Los Angeles
Everyone In: Combating Rising Homelessness in Los Angeles County
LA Mission Homless Easter Service
SoCal Connected
Take Action: How to Help the Homeless
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SoCal Connected
Interview: A Different Kind Of Homeless Shelter
LA's ambitious plan to house every homeless veteran
9:06
PBS News Hour
LA's ambitious plan to house every homeless veteran

Affordable Housing

A row of homeless encampment tents line the sidewalk and spill out onto the street, some bearing American flags.
Segregation-Era Law Puts Affordable Housing Approval in the Hands of L.A. Voters
Hillside Villa community organizers gather in the rotunda of L.A. City Hall for a City Council meeting
L.A. City Council Leverages Eminent Domain to Buy Hillside Villa Apartment Building On Behalf of Tenants
LA River
County Supervisors Approve LA River Master Plan and Land Bank for Affordable Housing
Rendering of the Star Apartments
Artbound
Good Design Is for Everyone: The Evolution of Low-Income Housing in L.A.
Rendering of the Star Apartments
10:29
Artbound
Good Design Is for Everyone: The Evolution of Low-Income Housing in L.A.
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Latest

Weathering the L.A. River Unsheltered
Weathering the L.A. River Unsheltered
People experiencing homelessness are impacted by climate change on the L.A. River.
In the foreground, a sign is attached to a pole and reads "Special Enforcement Zone," describing that no person shall sit, like, sleep or allow items to remain in the public right of way or risk removal. In the background, a person walks down a street instead of the sidewalk, which is full of blue tarps covering homeless camps.
L.A.'s Anti-Camping Law Cost At Least $3 Million and Permanently Housed 2 People
According to a city memo, only two unhoused individuals were placed into permanent housing in the three years since an anti-camping law took effect in Los Angeles — despite costing more than $3 million to implement.
Homeless Camp Ban Rejected
1:59
Season 2024 Episode 2
Homeless Camp Ban Rejected
California's homeless encampment ban failed to pass, without any plan to house the displaced.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.
Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness
In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
A masked woman wearing a red T-shirt sits facing away from the camera with the text on the back of her shirt visible, reading "Chinatown Community for Equitable Development" in English and other languages. She faces a woman wearing a gray pants suit and a pink shirt underneath holding a wired microphone and addressing a seated crowd in an outdoor courtyard.
Landlord Orders L.A. Renters To Pay Or Leave Chinatown Apartment Building
Residents of the Hillside Villa community in L.A.'s Chinatown community are facing eviction as the city's plan to seize the building by eminent domain stalls.
A homeless encampment consisting of umbrellas, tarps, a shopping cart, a washing machine and other debris spills out from the sidewalk and into the street, in front of parked cars.
L.A.'s New Homeless Solution Clears Camps But Struggles to House People
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass launched a homeless program called Inside Safe — and although it has cleared sidewalk encampments and provided some interim housing for those who were living on the streets, it has failed to offer a more permanent solution.
A close-up of homemade posters written and painted by protestors reading "HOUSING JUSTICE FOR EVERYONE!" and "CANCEL RENT"
Rent Relief Still Available for Thousands of Californians Previously Denied COVID Assistance
A new legal settlement between the state and a coalition of anti-poverty and tenant rights groups means that some California tenants will get another shot at rent relief, even though the COVID-era rental assistance program has officially ended and the state's housing department previously denied them.
One image of a person wearing a hoodie on a video call with "Democracy Now!" and another image of a demonstrator holding up a yellow sign that reads "KC Tenants: Safe Healthy Homes for All."
10:07
Biden Proposes Renters Bill of Rights as Landlords Make Record Profits; Housing Advocates Want More
A new Biden administration plan announced Wednesday aims to make rent more affordable and protect tenants' rights, as rental costs in the United States rose nearly 25% between 2019 and 2022.
A homeless man stand next to his encampment on a bridge crossing over a freeway, with a concrete ramp overhead
California Senate's New Health Chair to Prioritize Mental Health and Homelessness
Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) has been appointed to chair the California state Senate’s influential health committee — a change that promises a more urgent focus on expanding mental health services and moving homeless people into housing and treatment.
Karen Bass, wearing a blue suit, raises her right hand and places her left hand on a Bible as Kamala Harris reads text of the Oath of Office for L.A. mayor
L.A.'s Newly-Inaugurated Mayor Karen Bass Declares State of Emergency on Homelessness
In her first official act as mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness Monday in an effort to underscore the severity of the housing crisis in the nation's second largest city.
An illustration of turquoise- and orange-colored tents across a gray striped background
Understanding L.A.'s Homelessness Crisis in Six Charts
Amid rising rents, L.A.'s homeless population is increasing — and the streets are getting more dangerous for the unhoused, who are victims of crime and violence, including assault and homicide.
A group of spectators in the L.A. City Council chambers protest the vote on 41.18, a law banning homeless encampments
L.A. City Council Candidates Yaroslavsky, Yebri Differ on Homeless Encampments in CD5 Race
The race to succeed termed-out Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz in Council District 5 (CD5) features Katy Young Yaroslavsky and Sam Yebri, two candidates with different backgrounds and approaches to Los Angeles' homelessness crisis.
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