Facing an acute housing crisis and rising public anger over tents in public spaces, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved an ambitious goal of building 25,000 units of new housing for homeless people by 2025.
The hope is that the new construction will help the city relocate many of the people who live on sidewalks, freeway embankments and parks.
The last count, which took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, found about 41,000 homeless people within the L.A. city limits. Of them, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimates about 29,000 live on the streets or in cars. The rest are in shelters or other forms of temporary housing.
Councilman Kevin de León introduced the proposal after spending months saying the city needs a goal — a “North Star” — in its quest to solve the homelessness crisis. His proposal lacks much detail for how the city would expand housing production to hit the goal — or what the cost would be.
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