| The tragedy of homelessness can never be long out of mind here in California, where tents line sidewalks and freeway underpasses and lost street-corner souls rant at God knows what. |
| We gawk in sadness and amazement. And we tell ourselves: It's never been this bad. |
| But it has. At least in relative numbers, it was once even worse. |
| California's homeless population zoomed to 101,174 in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression — according to a census of 48 of the state's 58 counties. That meant that 1.8% of the population of 5.7 million lived with no permanent roof overhead. |
| Contrast that with 2022, when a federal report put the number of California homeless at 171,521, or about 0.4% of the 39 million who now live here. |
| That's one of many things I learned in a deep and probing investigation by The Times and reporters Mitchell Landsberg and Gale Holland into the roots of California's homeless crisis. |
| Their thoroughly researched and nuanced story is a far cry from how The Times used to cover homelessness. Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, the bombastic publisher of the newspaper, had this to say about the homeless in an 1882 editorial: "Don't feed the worthless chaps. It only encourages them in their idleness and viciousness." |
What got us out of it the last time? |
| The economic boom that came along with World War II, the subsequent GI Bill and low-cost veterans loans to help those returning from war move into their dream houses. |
| More than a half-million dwelling units were built in the L.A. metro area from 1940 to 1950, according to the U.S. census, most of them after the war. More than 850,000 more were built during the 1950s. |
| The city added nearly as many homes as there were Angelenos. Homelessness had all but disappeared. |
| Not long after that postwar boom, the city and the state put the brakes on the kind of development needed to provide enough homes for California's consistently growing population. Voters and their representatives failed to approve large apartment projects in many neighborhoods. Zoning and restrictive loan practices prohibited Black and Latino people from moving into certain neighborhoods. |
| When the state mental hospitals disappeared in the 1960s, Gov. Ronald Reagan and Democrats in the Legislature didn't come anywhere close to producing the community-based clinics that were supposed to care for some of our most fragile residents. |
Is there hope this time around? |
| Yes. The public has shown, with the passage of new taxes, in particular a half-cent sales tax in Los Angeles County, that it's ready to pay to resolve the problem. The Legislature and governor have recently joined in, easing the rules surrounding new housing construction. L.A. County's homeless numbers began to level off in 2023 and, this spring, the agency overseeing the homeless projected that the unsheltered population had dropped by 5% to 10%. |
| The total of roughly 70,000 homeless in L.A. County is still far too high, and more help is needed. |
| Here's more on homelessness in Los Angeles, including a timeline of key events and policies that have made L.A. the homeless capital of the United States. |
Today's top stories |
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| The raging Guadalupe River leaves fallen trees and debris in its wake on July Fourth in Kerrville, Texas. (Eric Gay / Associated Press) |
L.A. firestorms and Texas floods share a grim connection |
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The six-month anniversary of the worst firestorm in Los Angeles County history |
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Trump administration sues California over transgender athletes; billions of dollars at stake |
- The Trump administration has sued California for allowing transgender athletes to compete on school sports teams that match their gender identity.
- The suit alleges that California has violated federal civil rights law by discriminating against women.
- California officials have denied any wrongdoing and rejected federal demands to bar transgender athletes from girls' and women's school sports teams.
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What else is going on |
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Commentary and opinions |
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This morning's must reads |
| | | In the long shadow of his policies, renewed attention is being paid to Miller's upbringing in the famously liberal enclave once dubbed "the People's Republic of Santa Monica." | | | |
Other must reads |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
For your downtime |
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| Melody, a natural wine bar and restaurant on the corner of Virgil Avenue and Marathon Street, will close on July 12. (Eric Tucker) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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A question for you: What's your favorite California beach? |
| Skylar Blue writes: "My favorite Beach is Centerville Beach in Ferndale, California!" |
| Ray Highfill writes: "LaJolla, Calif." |
| Email us at @latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... from our archives |
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| Stuart the Minion in a scene from "Minions: The Rise of Gru," the sequel to "Minions." (Illumination Entertainment / Universal Pictures) |
| On July 10, 2015, the movie "Minions" — a spinoff of the wildly popular "Despicable Me" movie series — was released in theaters. Here's what The Times thought at the time about the film, which puts the titular yellow sidekicks to history's greatest villains in the spotlight. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
