starap

Homes For The Homeless

Market Insights
10 years ago
1 minutes

Los Angeles’ Skid-Row has homed thousands and thousands of homeless men, women and children for decades. However, a recent downtown development, which began construction in 2013, is sure to help that.

The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the agency that deals with the homeless and aids their struggle, is occupying the bottom floor, with 102 prefabricated apartment units being built on top - they’ve named it Star Apartments. These apartments aren’t your standard commission housing - the complex is equipped with a gym with running track, a library, a garden, and multiple art-studios for the residents. Residents pay 30 percent of their income, meaning if they earn nothing, they pay nothing.

An estimated 5,000 people are living on the streets in Skid Row, and whilst the Star Apartments have had to be extremely selective in choosing the occupants, it is still a step in the right direction. Skid Row Housing Trust executive director Mike Alvidrez stated “we want to target people who are costing the taxpayer the most by not being in housing”. This effectively means that those who are believed to be the most inclined to end up in both the emergency department at local hospitals, or jail.

Will other leading nations of the world follow suit?