Los Angeles today was open to me in earnest, we visited the heart of the city of sprawling millions. One of the neighbourhoods that constitute Downtown Los Angeles was Skid Row, the area which has one of the highest homeless populations in the United States. The word Skid row, comes from the Pacific coast loggers who when fired, were “sent down the Skid road”, where society threw out those who wouldn’t fit into their ideal. This area, is a hop, skip and a Metrolink stop away from the posh Little Tokyo district and the high rise Financial District , and is where the glitz and glamour of L.A stamps down those they would rather not see.
Like every growing city, L.A too is constantly evolving and some of its residents with lower incomes and physical and mental disabilities are paying the price. Skid Row, being in the downtown area is where much of the services provided to aid those who are in need of these services, be it health clinics, or lower rent housing were available here. But over the years, the evolution of Los Angeles has started straining on these citizens who cannot afford to live in the ideal set up and are “spit to the streets” remorselessly. The process of gentrification is rampant around Skid Row and is creeping upon it, with large scale developers refurbishing low income apartments to high rise lofts in the heart of the area. This is seen as a process to get rid of anything that isnt constantly moving forward or progressing in the city, sadly this progress is not quantifiable in any other way but through income.
But when walking through this area I would never assume that these, the home
less of the L.A community are unhappy or downtrodden in any way, “uninhibited” would be my guess. The comradery and the general feeling of community is truly wonderful to behold and take care of. These , that society deemed not worthy have gone into an area where there has been no resources or funds put in by the government to better it but treated as the forgotten and ignored. We visited three housing and shelter buildings for the homeless, which included Star Apartments and Lamp Village and the heart of the residents and clients in these facilities resonated with me. A lot of the persons who were homeless previously to living in these permanent housing facilities, were either individuals with a mental or physical disability, recovering addicts or veterans of the United States Armed Forces. And these were people who had been dealt the worst hand in my opinion and you would expect that anger and frustration to be shown loud and clear, the hope that is present in Skid Row is unlike any I have seen before and does give me a sliver of faith in humanity.
One of the social workers we met yesterday at one of the shelters for the homeless we visited, referred to his organization as a bus stop of sorts for people to find a way back into society by just waiting at the bus stop. I personally believe that Skid Row is that bus stop that if one waits long enough at a bus will come and get to, to take you to a better time and place in your life. With the heavy and rampant gentrification that is going on in the Los Angeles and heading towards Skid Row, to flatten and cement over any resistance to the development had planned. The situation in Skid Row is bleak and rather grey but the hope that prevails no matter among its residence gives faith for a better tomorrow, and for that I salute you, “the Rose that grew out of the concrete”.
