LA Voters Are Fed Up With the Response to Homelessness

A new survey of LA County voters’ attitudes on homelessness has highlighted an ideological gulf between local leaders and the people they represent.

One thing voters and representatives agree on is the severity of the crisis. 94% of county voters view homelessness as a serious or very serious problem and the majority cite it as the top issue facing the region, the Los Angeles Business Council Institute found.

But voters are extremely frustrated with politicians’ response. The vast majority believe the situation is getting worse. 57% say they favor short-term housing solutions over the permanent housing goals that the city and county have prioritized — a significant increase from two years ago.

Voters expressed empathy and understanding for the unhoused, with four in ten saying they recently experienced housing insecurity themselves or know someone who has. But their primary concern is getting people off the streets in their communities. Four in ten said homeless people in their neighborhoods make them feel unsafe and over one in five have considered moving because of the problem.

Peter Hart, who helped oversee the survey, described voters as “shaken and upset” and “close to the boiling point.”

“There’s not a lot of optimism,” he added.

The survey involved 906 respondents countywide and has a 3.3 percentage margin of error.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.