New L.A. Times homeless and housing crisis section launches - Los Angeles Times
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Housing & Homelessness

Introducing your new place to keep up with California’s housing and homelessness crisis

A homeless person stands with his belongings on the first night of this year's L.A. County homeless count in North Hollywood.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
By Times staff
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The Los Angeles Times is continuing its commitment to covering the state’s homelessness and affordable housing crisis with a new section on latimes.com that will bring together our best coverage.

This section, which launches today, will serve as a resource for readers, with stories examining the causes of homelessness, and attempts by elected officials to build more housing and stem the tide of people flowing to the streets. There will be opinion columns, as well as photos and videos, exploring the realities of being homeless and of living near encampments. And to help shape our coverage, readers will be able to use the new section to ask questions.

With more than 150,000 Californians — about a third of them in Los Angeles County — now living without a permanent roof over their heads, The Times is committed to pushing the boundaries of what news organizations do. We recognize that digging into causes of and potential solutions is more important than ever.

Therefore, last week, we also launched our first in a new series of visual stories on the homelessness and housing crisis. This one is on Proposition HHH, the $1.2-billion bond measure that voters in the city of L.A. approved in 2016 to build housing for homeless people. So far, however, only one of those housing projects has opened. We explore how that happened.

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LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 4, 2019 - - Francisco Aldana, 30, left, fist bumps a fellow homeless man, where they live with around 25 other homeless people underneath the 405 freeway on Venice Blvd. in Los Angeles on June 4, 2019. Aldana, who grew up just a few blocks away in Culver City, worked as a medical assistant before loosing his job. High rents and bad credit have made it hard for him to find an affordable place to live. "I try to do the best with what I have," Aldana said. "I'm standing on my own two feet. I just need someone to give me a chance," he concluded. The homeless refer to the area, between Tuller and Globe Avenues, as Westside Skidrow." People in the encampment range in age from early 20s to the early 60s. Homelessness jumps 12% in L.A. County, 16% in the city, leaving officials 'stunned.' In a setback for multi-million dollar efforts to reduce homelessness, the number of people on the streets and in shelters was up in double digits in 2019. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Housing & Homelessness

What are your questions about the homelessness crisis in California?

Help us inform our reporting about the homelessness crisis in California by submitting your questions.

Readers will see many more such visual stories this year, as The Times tries to unpack why homelessness, by all indications, continues to grow; to assess what actions elected and appointed officials at all levels of government have taken, and have not taken, to resolve the crisis; and to come up with potential solutions.

As homelessness, driven by a shortage of housing, continues to unfold on the streets of Los Angeles and the rest of California, we are reimagining our role at The Times. These are our first steps.

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