Letters to the Editor: Get used to more DIY houses in L.A. built by homeless people

Los Angeles Times Opinion
·2 min read
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 18, 2024 - Alejandro Diaz, 24, leaves his makeshift home which rests above the Arroyo Seco and next to the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles on April 18, 2024. Diaz has lived homeless in the structure for the past three years. He makes money by selling recyclables. Among the 46,000 people in Los Angeles experiencing homelessness, there are dozens living along the Arroyo Seco next to the 110 Freeway near Highland Park. Those living there have constructed a number of different makeshift structures, some with tents, tarps and other scrap materials, but at least one of the structures, complete with a stone wall, a walkway, a front door, electric-powered lighting and even a hammock for relaxing, stands out. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Alejandro Diaz, 24, leaves his makeshift home, which rests above the Arroyo Seco and next to the 110 Freeway in Highland Park on April 18. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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To the editor: Your article on the DIY house built by homeless immigrants in Highland Park vividly brought to mind the various favelas I saw in Rio de Janeiro many years ago.

Many of them were intricately constructed of several different materials, some with a great deal of skill and artistry. And I could not help wondering at the time how there was such a disparity in that city between the extremely wealthy and so many poor people living in these shacks.

I keep wondering the same thing now. If we do not get people housed and out of the encampments, we are going to look like a third-world city. Poverty is not beautiful.

Mary Lambert, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I suggest the people who built this structure be hired as planners and consultants by the current powers that be who are constructing the homeless and low-income housing for the state.

Just think what they could do with a few million of the billions that don't seem to be helping a lot.

June Eicker, Gardena

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To the editor: One article you recently published reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to cut programs for housing assistance, foster kids aging out of care and incarcerated people eligible to have their sentences reduced.

In another article, Newsom said that he wanted to see more progress on homelessness. He blamed cities for the increasing number of unhoused people in California.

There must be intelligent people in Sacramento. Is there no one who can connect the dots?

Connie O'Neill, Santa Monica

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.