CityLab Daily: Can You Put a Price on Ending Homelessness?
Also today: How hackers rigged the JFK taxi system, and Chinese cities tell people with Covid to go back to work.
Homelessness in Los Angeles has reached “emergency” levels, according to incoming Mayor Karen Bass.
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
If California, which has the largest unhoused population in the US, were to permanently solve its homelessness crisis, how much would it cost? According to a new assessment from researchers at two nonprofits, the total would come out to roughly $8.1 billion annually over the next 12 years. That price tag includes building more than 112,000 apartments each year.
The jarring figure reflects the scale of the crisis, the complexity of its causes, and the degree to which it’s been neglected by local and state leaders. One expert tells CityLab’s Kriston Capps that while California has invested record funding into interventions that let more people access shelters, it hasn’t developed a comprehensive plan to secure permanent housing for unsheltered residents. “Only homes end homelessness,” said Debbie Thiele of the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Today on CityLab: How Much Would It Cost to End Homelessness in California for Good?