Central Los Angeles has been described as “third world” after shocking footage revealed a homeless encampment with street bonfires and rubbish-strewn sidewalks.
The shocking video, posted on
Some are seen standing around a bonfire on the street, just minutes from Midnight Mission, a $17 million center for the homeless.
Billionaire mogul Elon Musk, who had previously spoken out about the homelessness crisis in the state of California, summed up the video with one word: “wow.”
“Gavin Newsom’s California is the richest state, but its cities look like those in Third World countries,” said one X user.
Footage shows dozens of homeless people sitting and standing on dirty sidewalks on the corner of San Pedro Street and 6th Street in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The video is taken just meters from Midnight Mission, a $17 million homeless center.
‘If you didn’t tell us this was Los Angeles, we’d think it was a city in a third world country!’ another commented.
A third added: “Funny how Hollywood elites are so outspoken about citizens of other countries living in third world conditions, but silent about their own backyard.”
Los Angeles is currently home to more than 46,000 homeless people, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
Homelessness in downtown Los Angeles in particular has skyrocketed since the pandemic, with more than 10,000 more homeless people on the streets since 2019.
Since 2015, homelessness in the city has increased 70 percent.
Services like Midnights Mission, whose main center is just meters from the shocking video that circulated online, have been stretched to the limit of their resources.
The Mission serves three meals a day to those living on the streets, in addition to providing services such as temporary housing, a barbershop, and a women’s crisis center.
In just three years, the number of homeless women in Los Angeles has increased 55 percent, according to the organization.
Los Angeles is currently home to more than 46,000 homeless people, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
Homelessness in downtown Los Angeles in particular has skyrocketed since the pandemic, with more than 10,000 more homeless people on the streets since 2019.
Since 2015, homelessness in the city has increased 70 percent.
In just three years, the number of homeless women in Los Angeles has increased 55 percent, according to Midnight Mission.
Los Angeles County has a $609.7 million budget to address homelessness in 2023-2024, $61.8 million more than the previous year
More than 90 percent of those women have experienced physical or sexual assault.
In August it emerged that the city had resorted to sending mobile teams with oxygen cylinders to Skid Row in a desperate attempt to prevent overdoses as the area is gripped by an opioid crisis.
Workers from the nonprofit Homeless Health Care Los Angeles now patrol the streets between snaking rows of makeshift housing where homeless people can be seen sleeping among the few belongings they own, while others in poor health inject or smoke illicit substances. .
Los Angeles County has a budget of $609.7 million to address homelessness in 2023-2024, $61.8 million more than the previous year.
The budget goes toward reducing encampments, increasing temporary and permanent housing placements, and increasing mental health and substance use disorder services for people experiencing homelessness.
Despite the efforts, California Governor Gavin Newsom admitted last summer that the state’s homelessness crisis was a “disgrace” and pledged even more resources to address the problem.
Homelessness numbers in California have increased 13 percent in California during Newsom’s time as governor, and government statistics show a 6.8 percent increase between 2019 and 2020, and an additional 6 percent increase between 2020 and 2022, according to the California Public Policy Institute. .
“This state has not made progress in the last two decades when it comes to homelessness because housing costs are too high, our regulatory morass is too problematic, localism has had too much of an impact, which means people at the local level is rejecting the start and construction of new housing. Newsom told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview in June.
Homelessness numbers in California have increased 13 percent in California during Newsom’s time as governor.
Government statistics show a 6.8 percent increase in homelessness between 2019 and 2020, and another 6 percent increase between 2020 and 2022.
However, he added that he had only been in office for four years and that time was not enough to “make up for the fact that in 2005 we had a historic number of homeless people under a Republican administration.”
The governor said: ‘I own this. “I take responsibility for this” when faced with the shocking homelessness numbers in California.
‘I have a $15.3 billion homeless plan. When I got here, it was $500 million. The state of California was not involved in the homeless problem. We get involved.
He added: ‘We are holding cities and counties accountable. I am suing cities that do not produce housing. In fact, we have a maximum of 15 years of new home construction in the state of California. “In fact, we are seeing the programs produce real results, but I want accountability.”
Newsom acknowledged that businesses were leaving and the state’s cities were plagued by safety problems, but he insisted: ‘I love this state. I don’t like what’s happening with the camps, I don’t like what’s happening with the streets and sidewalks.’