Los Angeles. Love/Hate Relationship. SPECIAL SERIES: A Tale of Two Cities. 2021. Part 6. COVID brings LA's greatest faults to surface.

In any condominium, water shut-offs do occur. Typically, however, they're occasional, not a common occurrence. This is particularly challenging at a time when more of us are working from home. Our property manager said water shut-offs are a more common issue as a result. However, the Market Lofts was a live/work building long before COVID-19 - it should be able to accommodate people living and working from home. We've had over 12 in the first quarter, some multiple days in a row.

Living over the grocery store is tremendously convenient but also can be disadvantageous as well. At least once a quarter the bakery causes the alarms in our building to go off. Once, someone set the toilet seats in the men's room on fire. The entrance to the underground parking lot to the store is right next to our entrance. You need to always be extra cautious coming and going as shoppers are not always paying close attention. The largest grocery store in Downtown Los Angeles, it is also a magnet for our large homeless population. Over the last few years this has created scenarios that have included a woman defecating right in front of the store, individuals in states of near to complete nakedness inside the store, many challenging conflicts between armed security and individuals and sometimes law enforcement and people soliciting money on the street. Additionally, we now have people since COVID-19 sleeping increasingly around our building and smoking and slamming crystal meth and other drugs around the building. The very short walk from our entrance to the building to the entrance to Ralph's no longer feels safe late at night. Worse yet, sometime last summer I believe, someone, likely homeless, set the building on fire and flames went 5 stories up in the building. Nobody to my knowledge was hurt, but a true scare. Honestly, we've had so many false alarms, I am not sure how many of us even now know this one was actually real. 

There are over 65,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County. It is our greatest shame. There are over 8,000 within 1 mile of this condominium. For nearly 50 years, not only did all of LA, but many parts of the country use Downtown LA as a "dumping" ground for their homeless problem. We shamelessly allowed it to happen. The vast majority of the homeless in LA are from LA, they didn't move here for the warm weather. We created their problems for the most part. 

Every single problem with LA ties back to one issue, affordable housing. It is the ultimate reason businesses do not locate here. It is why we continue to have a shrinking middle class. It is why COVID rates are so high when you have 8 people  in a one bedroom apartment and many are essential workers. 

The homeless pandemic has become a problem for which all need be part of the resolution. It is hurting everyone. There is the obvious need to address our Angelenos in despair. But this hurts development, which hurts the economic ability to do so. It impacts quality of life, which again impacts the economy but also the compassion to care, let alone create change. It hurts our reputation around the world, which hurts tourism as well other parts of the economy. Our most vulnerable are shamefully and  insufficiently cared for, and while voters have approved huge measures for funding to help and city councils and their agencies are ever so active, it is clear that they have failed at our expense. This creates greater anger and despair. We can't throw in the towel. We must find solutions that work. Los Angeles is better than this and this is the California nightmare, not dream.