An article from today’s Los Angeles Times points out the devastation caused to surrounding neighborhoods by the concentration of social services in one area, something we addressed in our report on the Lower Reach of the American River Parkway, currently suffering under a huge illegal camping problem.
Our report can be found on the News page on our website at http://www.arpps.org
As the article from the Times points out, the centralizing of services attracts more of those needing services, which is good for them and the service providers, but can be disastrous for the surrounding community.
Why Skid Row Has Become L.A.'s 'Dumping' Ground
Agencies there don't, or can't, turn away the addicts, the destitute and the homeless.
By Cara Mia DiMassa and Richard Winton,Times Staff Writers October 5, 2005
To understand how the streets of downtown Los Angeles have become a depository for drug addicts, parolees and homeless people, just look through the logs of the skid row detox center run by the Volunteers of America.
In the last month alone, dozens of police cruisers from as far away as Carson and Venice have pulled up to the center's doors on Crocker Street near 5th Street, bringing with them more than 150 intoxicated homeless people. The drop-offs have come from nine law enforcement agencies besides the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the records reviewed by The Times, but also from various LAPD divisions, including Hollywood, Pacific and West L.A.
A block away at the Union Rescue Mission, social workers say ambulances and taxis regularly drop people at their doorstep from hospitals, healthcare centers and even retirement homes.
Although critics might denounce such actions as dumping problems in downtown Los Angeles, the reality, according to police, social workers and community activists, is more complicated.
Skid row has the county's largest concentration of services for homeless people and those with drug and alcohol addictions. This makes it a place of last resort for agencies dealing with people who have been released from jail, hospitals or other institutions and have nowhere else to go.
For decades, few questioned the arrangement — largely because that section of downtown had long been home to single-room-occupancy hotels and charity groups that attracted transients.
But in recent years, the neighborhoods around skid row have been at the center of a major revitalization, as long-abandoned office buildings have been converted into luxury lofts and condos. Now, with units in the shadow of skid row going for as much as $700,000, some residents and city officials say they are tired of the area being a dumping ground for the region's problems.
For the rest of the story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dumping5oct05,0,3581498.story?coll=la-home-local
