GOOD Magazine: Skid Row Part 5: Afterword

[lovnblues]

an inspiring and eye-opening perspective. every LA resident should be more aware of and active towards these issues.

[Colloquium2011]

Don't look down on anybody, unless you're on top of a ladder.

[Colloquium2011]

Watch Homeless Christ for end times preporations

[pheartheLamOfGod]

there needs to be acres where homeless people can stay in tents and be bussed to and from the city center where they can get their needs met, enjoy life, and get bussed back to their tent....

[algallego]

Ezekiel 16:49-50:

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

[algallego]

"Embrace the community; include them!" Inspiring words! I think we all want to feel included in something meaningful in life... how moreso the people on the down and out in places like Skid Row! Lord, God, please help us all to do better for one another!

[modernwarfarenoob]

VERMIN

[raidergunz]

skidrow exists in all states and all countries they just aren't as concentrated and visible as what Los Angeles has.

To really make a change we'll have to change the ideas, events, and people that those, primarily the youth, in the area are exposed to

[westernbaconburger]

I personally believe the premise of our poor times can be pinpointed towards the agendas, decisions, and greed of the rich. Not too long ago, just a few decades the amount of money the rich held is not nearly what they own now. The proportion of wealth was distributed much fairly than what it is today.

The rich today want to keep the poor poor, they want to bastardize the capitalist system. Evil is subjective, but money feels to be the true root of the underlying force what we would call evil.

[pinfold1000]

fuck YOU HIPSTERS GO TO HELL YOUR WORKLIVE ARTSPACE WAS BUILT On

THE SUFFERING of poor black brown and white PEPOLE.

SONS OF WELL OFF GO LIVE YOUR BOHEMIAN FANTANCY IN THE SUBURBS WHERE THE WHITE FLIGHT OF YOUR FATHERS SENT YOU!!!!!!!

URBAN RENUALL IS A SICK JOKE!!!!!!!!!!! hipsters lofts wholefoods increased police presents to protect the new young "WHITEMAN" he's not a racist like his father. BUT THE black and brown people seem to disappear when he arrives! ?Lies are murder!!!!!

[marcusos1111]

this is what happens when banks kick out people out of their homes! we waste so much money in stupidass pointless wars when we should use that money to fix this damn brokeass country!

[pastorkila]

Thank you for the Skid Row Series. It takes unbias eyes with no agenda to often present reality. It is what it is. God bless your work.

Rev. Akiliah Manuel Mills

Manager Hospitality and Guest Services

Union Rescue Mission

[11CarpeDiem]

I drive through skid row everyday when i go to work and honestly I'm scared everytime I pass by. It's very sad but I don't do anything about it. And I think that's how a lot of us are. We all feel bad, but we choose to ignore it instead.

[Akkkico]

Very good videos. Thanks for uploading.

[insanerun]

the system does't like homeless at their

pretty beaches, they'll just bring you somewhere not pretty where they think

you belong.

[03BIGCITY]

If I lived there I would atleast walk my ass to the beach and be homeless there.

[jamesrosevear]

@03BIGCITY Or a park in Beverly Hills

[Skalapat]

Listen the problems facing homeless is that for the mentally inept it costs money...money they cant earn because they arnt well....for the druggies its and addiction they would chose to afford other then anything else. For the abused....its cause your to lazy to go get a fucking Job. I did homeless for 10 years. and its the same everywhere different faces same story. lets not forget the 40 thousand plus nam vets that are homeless right now....

[gambit1357]

given all of the foreclosures i'd bet homelessness is increasing - ironically there is available housing

[OneEyedManAsKing]

The logic used by LA is sickening: Don't fix the problem, Gentrify!

It's happening everywhere and it's going to lead to millions more homeless.

[musicksol]

heavy

[tickntimebombfun]

LA has gone to shit and its only getting worse yet people continue to move here and pay ridiculous prices to live in glorified shit. Ill never understand .

[darthsun666]

LA is over populated! people need to stop comming here, no offense but there is other states as well

[ABAisSCIENCE]

You raise an important point on homelessness DarthSun666 and that is that no one wants them, but getting them out of your region is not the solution to homelessness. NYC did not solve it either and building houses is not the key.

The key is to get people in environments that make them support their living in the right home as opposed to housing them somewhere.

I don't think NYC is the shining example as the figures don't tell the whole story.

[darthsun666]

i am not sure about new york, but in california unless you make about 15-20 an hour you simply cant afford to get a place and other basic necissties. hell i am living with a relative right now cause its hard to live in california.its nice when you have money

[opalfruities]

does anyone know the song at the very beginning with the GOOD title????

[meshlife88]

At the end in the credits it says Shawn Drew or something like that.

Ask the poster of this video, or try to find out the contact info of who produced this.

[valleystylez]

dude shut the fuck up with your song. That is not a song, it's just a simple beat made specifically for this video. You are not gonna find it in a little waine cd.

[Skalapat]

@valleystylez who the hell is little Waine?

[littlenickyn]

Moonlight Sonota by Beethoven

[stanley03061973]

but they will spend millions on weapons

[rivasjoe]

Orlando and proud of you . You are the best thank you for you support in the midnigth mission

[kurthpv]

Regardless of living condition, The one thing that they need most is Jesus! With him all things are possible, and when you have something to live for, you have a reason to try. God has the power to change Skid Row, and he needs us to go and spread the gospel.

[darthsun666]

i disagree! lived there for two years! and i can honestly say prayer doesnt work. what does work is hard work, going to school, setting realistic goals encouraging people to do better. that works! when you volunteer, maybe become a listener to these people! and if they need god to be better then its sad.

[Vikkoman]

The statistics for LA vs. NY are misleading.

Let's take the numbers of homeless people as a statistic.

LA (countywide) would mean Los Angeles County - In 2000 it had 9,519,338 people.

NY (countywide) would either mean Manhattan (New York County=Manhattan) or all of New York City (five counties) - If he's only referring to Manhattan, Manhattan had about 1,620,867 in 2007.

So, maybe NY's homeless are going to other boroughs? LA County has grown immensely. Maybe homeless are in other cities?

[ChicagoCubs1060]

we should just execute all of these people living on skid row and all other homeless people. they don't enjoy life anyway. get rid of the problem once and for all

[gargano3000]

cunt

[handsomeferny]

i say lets not talk about it....let's take action

and spread the word of the fallen souls who need help from others!!!!!!!!!!!

[bucunzi]

take away the mayor and scwaz..nigger put new faces

[Puregrl05]

By the Grace of God I pray that he will work through me and help me Achieve my Dream and Rescue a few people from skid row and once they become successful then it'll spread like wildfire, and this will be a thing of the pastl.

[GuildforRent]

very crazy I went through Skid row a couple of times.Its sad because its problem County wide their is huge amounts of homeless people not even in skid row. I am closer to Long beach and theirs a fair amount of Homeless on PCH. LA County has a big problem...one the reasons I might become a Sociologist

[10fDemdays]

That is why its so many homeless blacks in los angeles, Most jobs go to latino's, most of the housing go to them also as i stated. The mayor in Los Angeles is even latino, and he has made it very clear that he is in office to only help his people. Hopefully Obama will become president and change things, In my opinion no other nationality care anything about black people nor our struggles and thats in all 50 states in the U.S..

[justthinklove]

your energy is better focused on the issue at hand-- homelessness.

this living situation is unacceptable for any human being- black, brown, purple or what have you.

[10fDemdays]

In the Los Angeles California area, The Housing Authority which is designed to give low income and disabled people vouchers, Is ran and directed by a latino man. And of course alot of latino's, Mexicans get their vouchers and are able to find housing, But only a few blacks are able to achieve the samething.

[portalplayer]

Yeah, i totally agree that there should be more low income housing put up. I disagree that homeless people should be allowed to stay in free govt funded housing though. At least, they need to get a job and work. But, who knows if they will get back into drugs, alcohol or crime. these things are not controllable by the government or anyone else but themselves.

[hollywoodartchick]

Part of the problem in LA is that there is such a huge gap between wages and costs. There simply are not enough affordable units for people who work low-wage jobs. This puts them too close to the edge, and, when they are injured or ill, they easily fall into desperation. LA is a great city as long as you have a great-paying job, but even yuppies are just a few paychecks and some bad luck away from Skid Row.

[DartmouthAlum96]

This is one of the best summations of the L.A. economy I've ever read.

[swatus]

Los Angeles will always be paradise for homeless cause of weather.

[Efferts]

Anyone know if the reduction of homelessness comparing NY and LA also has to do with the geography? NY isn't as large; buildings are developed upward. LA is so spread out, thusly resources are spread thin.

Should this make sense?

[cdechols]

To Growlin Willie,

Now this comment seems to be more well thought out than the 'stop feeding them and they'll just go away' hypothesis you stated on an earlier video. The requirements of the RE market are real, but notice the comparison the short made to how NY handled it's problem and the difference in results. What's the details of that?

[GrowlinWillie]

The reason housing is so expensive is simple, supply and demand. People who own houses or condos paid a lot for them. They don't want housing to be affordable, tbey want it to be expensive. The laws create this shortage. Laws limit how many apartments can be built, how many units they

can have, how high they can be. Laws prevent trailer parks, pre-fab housing on small lots.

[taco0901]

laziness pays? maybe and hopefully oneday you will hit rock bottom, you would realize them 2-3 jobs is what sadly 'pays' for a 'crack culture' and when your at rock bottom, you would realize why its a culture. like my mans below said its more complex, but stupidity aint complex and the real laziness is that theres so many of us if we would take one hour or ten minutes to do something helpful for someone else in such a situations me included, maybe it wouldnt be a culture. maybe we would be equal

[GregoryMercury5]

The last comment is a direct reflection of unawareness and ignorance. Sure it's easy to say everyone on skid row is on crack or a bum... but that simply isn't the case. It is more complex. Sure, drugs are a factor for some, but not all. Pay attention to the videos;  Displacement from institutions, abusive relations, loss of jobs, mental health problems all factor in. The list goes on I am sure. Please people, don't be as ignorant as the last person commenting. Wake up!

[cramsa]

Only a fool believes throwing money and housing at the homeless will solve anything. What message does this send to those who WORK, such as people who work 2-3 jobs to help feed and support a family VS an able bodied bum who thinks he deserves everything simply because he's a crack head and a bum?

Looks like laziness pays.

[R0b22]

What about the kids? They're not lazy crack addicts, they are born in to it.

[Bopkasen]

Well... you lost your leg and arm from a crash. Your job is barely pay the apartment bill.

Want to say that homeless are lazy?

[DarkPrince013]

Sad and disturbing.Sounds like L.A is trying to run all the poor people out to make more money.America isn't all it's cracked up to be in some instances obviously, that looked no worse than some 3rd world country.Glad that it was finally exposed.

[skns2328]

right on,man----you said it all

[billybluesrock]

in the name of God, and in the name of good, we must change this !!! these people,these children of God,are living and dying in misery========my friends,my fellow human beings=====this could easily be you or me!,caught in the miserable,cruel web of poverty and pain=====we must act upon this==we must change this Now !

[leonmcveigh]

say a prayer and see where that gets you. the church doesnt give a shit

[DEKA1]

my great uncle used to live in Skid Row, at the Ford hotel ! he said (Like I am Legend) he would leave the hotel at 11am, & hang out at the Mcdonalds at Alameda St., and 7th St., & go back around 4pm, & stay in the hotel until the next morning ! now he has moved to long beach in a little safer motel !

[OskarWillhelm]

This is sickening. I can't believe such a place like that even exists in the USA. Don't ignore this, anyone. Figure something out. No dirty politician's going to fix this. It's gonna take genuine compassion from regular people.

[billybluesrock]

5*****

[thecrimsoncape]

Good. Good magazine. Good.

[ant78se]

There is a solution... Teke the money USA is spending on the army and build houses.

[yourjefe]

things like this have been tried before...that kind of people will burn houses down, sell crack, etc...it doesn't change a thing...education is very important, get the children, give them activities in their neighborhoods, pay them to clean up, etc. etc..

[OmuPlictisit]

I just can't belive this. I'm from Romania, we have poor people here, but not like in the US, on Skid Row. I'm so sorry for those people. God bless them all.

[icecreamforlunch]

thank you

[Servistre]

This has the potential to bring about awareness to a society that is often misnformed and misanthropic about issues such as poverty.

[annereksik]

These videos need to be promoted on a much larger scale!

They are eye-opening and wonderfully done.

[SpiKyAZn99]

yeh, can this be aired on tv?

[laughgrl]

These videos are amazing, everyone including public officals should watch every single on of these.

[honey73022002]

@laughgrl I agree 100%. Maybe it will open the eyes of alot politicians and Americans.