Rodrick Mims, 50, who has been homeless off and on over the last 15 years, moves some of his belongings including his artwork and tent shelter on the beach by the Pacific Ocean on June 16, 2021 at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. AFP
VENICE, California 鈥� Ah yes, Venice Beach in California: synonymous with sun, surf, palm trees and, now, homeless people.
As many as 200 tents line the oceanfront in this Los Angeles-area town that for decades has been a lure for surfers and tourists.
The area is a chaotic jumble of any material that can create shelter, and of waste and detritus, amid appalling hygiene conditions. The smell of urine competes with that of suntan lotion.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect to see so many homeless people here in Venice. Already in Hollywood a few days ago, I was a bit surprised, but here, all these tents touching each other, these shacks, these tarpaulins, it鈥檚 almost like a village,鈥� said John Jackson, who was visiting from the southern US state of Alabama.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, 聽authorities made homeless people living on the beach take down their tents during the day. But city hall suspended that rule to limit the risk of contagion among people who are already vulnerable to illness.
Homeless people in the Venice area, many of whom lost places in shelters and free meals because of the pandemic, have used the health crisis to converge on the city鈥檚 beach.
鈥淭he homeless have been part of Venice folklore since the 60s or 70s, but now their numbers have exploded. And they鈥檝e changed too,鈥� said an assistant in a souvenir shop who did not want to be named.
鈥淏efore a lot of them were hippies, beach bums who had more or less chosen this way of life. Now they are really poor guys. Almost everyone out there is very bad physically and mentally,鈥� said this man in his 60s.
鈥淚 see pain, mental illnesses, drugs 鈥� And it鈥檚 been rough for me this past month,鈥� said Denise Diangelo, a homeless woman who spoke to AFP near the beachfront encampment.
鈥淧robably the main problem that I鈥檝e had personally is sleeping. I usually like to sleep alone by the water, the Pacific Ocean, to keep away from problems,鈥� said Diangelo. Her only shelter, she says, is a beach umbrella.
Right before the pandemic nearly 2,000 people were recorded as being homeless in the streets of Venice. The numbers have grown steadily.
But now that life is returning to normal and tourists are coming back, the beachfront homeless camp is beginning to bother some and even take on a political bent.
Mike Bonin, a city councilor who advocates relocating the homeless population, has found himself locking horns with the Los Angeles County sheriff鈥檚 office and neighborhood associations that want a much more forceful evacuation the homeless.
A chronic problem in 聽California
Like many people who visit Los Angeles, Jackson, the Alabama tourist, said he cannot understand 鈥渨hy all these people are homeless when California has the reputation of being so rich.鈥�
Indeed, California boasts the world鈥檚 fifth-largest economy in terms of GDP. But it is also one of the US states with the most poor people.
It holds the sad title of being home to the largest homeless population in America: more than 66,000 in Los Angeles County alone before Covid-19, up nearly 13 percent from the previous year.
One of the main reasons for this, according to the Los Angeles city agency that tries to address homelessness, is the lack of affordable housing in a city where rent is very expensive.
Rent shot up 65 percent from 2010 to 2020, nearly twice the average rate of increase for the country as a whole. In the same period, median Los Angeles household income rose only 36 percent.
Some groups are working to provide aid and housing for the homeless people of Venice, but this is a tough job because some of them having been living in the streets for years.
Take the case of Rodrick Sims, who is 50 and has been 聽homeless for 15 years. He said his descent started when he got divorced.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to do. I鈥檓 hoping that they give me, you know, a place where I can start learning how to live inside again,鈥� he told AFP while eating grapes outside his tent on the beach.
鈥淚鈥檒l tell you, when once you鈥檙e outside, you get feral, like a wild wild man,鈥� Sims said.