Fake it till you make it.
Homeless Californians have installed a rock wall, garden, barbecue grill, hammock, decorative string lights, potted plants and electricity on a strip of land wedged between Los Angeles’ busy freeways and Arroyo Seco. built a house.
The impressive and seemingly sturdy structure stands out among the dozens of temporary shelters, tents and tarps that homeless people have erected along the drainage ditch. Photographed by local news station KTLA.
The number of encampments built on “dry rivers” has increased in recent years as 46,000 Los Angeles residents experience homelessness, the station reported.
People living in temporary housing on the edge of Highway 110 did not call out to the station, but neighbors who did gave mixed reactions.
“They don’t care about me,” one nearby resident said in Spanish, pointing out that most of the encampment’s residents don’t care about him.
But neighbor Mike Ancheta, who was passing by on his bike, said he “applauded” their efforts but said the shelter should not be there.
“This doesn’t belong here. This is public property,” Ancheta told KTLA. “But this is not its intended use. This is dangerous. As you can see, someone is cooking in there with a bonfire. They are stealing the electricity. I mean, come on.”
However, photos show that the house-like encampment has two fire extinguishers in its “yard.”
“It’s terrible that these people are here,” Enrique Rodriguez said. “I hope things are better for those people. [But] I can’t feel sorry for the mistakes they made. ”
Yet another resident blamed Los Angeles’ rent prices.
“It’s a mess,” Ulysses Chavez told a local broadcaster.
“We need to lower rents. We need to lower prices on all kinds of things, especially in Los Angeles.”
