Los Angeles home to the largest population of homeless residents: The cost of Rental Armageddon leads to L.A. having 20,000 homeless residents.
ByThe high cost of housing has bigger consequences than simply seeing $700,000 crap shacks littering the landscape. People are spending large portions of their money on rents and also mortgage payments. Los Angeles leads the way in both of these categories. The typical renter in Los Angeles spends nearly 50 percent of their income on paying the rent. We are number one in this category. The typical home buyer is spending roughly 40 percent of their income on mortgage payments. We are in the top 3 in this category (San Francisco leads the way). Of course many people can’t keep up. Alternatives include the 2.3 million adults living at home with parents. The other option is leaving the state to places like Texas. And for others, you simply fall through the gentrification cracks. Los Angeles leads the nation with the highest homeless population. The problem is only getting worse. Since 2013 as home values went up, the sheer number of people living on the streets has increased by 10 percent. The mayor even declared a state of emergency and announced a $100 million plan for dealing with the problem. That is a drop in the bucket unfortunately. The housing crisis has wider problems than merely overpriced stucco boxes…
