Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Whose park is it?

 

   Echo Park is in an eclectic neighborhood with Mexican-American families and hipsters that shares its name and isn’t far from Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles.  The park features a large pond with a big fountain and swan boats that people like to go for a ride in.  It is a pleasant spot, popular with families and those out for a stroll or a run. 

   It has also been a pleasant spot for about 200 homeless people who have been camping there for the past year.  Not a bad place to ride out a pandemic.  Not only that, but the encampment became something of a community, with a kitchen, a garden and at least an attempt to keep things clean. 

   This all ended last week, when police in riot gear booted the people out and the park was closed for renovations. A number had willingly gone to hotel rooms that the city (L.A) provided through its laudable Project Roomkey program, which is all very well and good, but there were those who didn’t want to be cooped up in a room with perhaps a curfew, etc., who didn’t want to give up the community and who didn’t want to leave.  A bit of a scuffle ensued, with some people, including journalists, detained, although there was nothing like a riot, and I think two of the homeless people ended up getting arrested. 

   I read about all this in the Los Angeles Times, which had a number of stories about the encampment leading up to the eviction and which has long shown much empathy for the homeless, and I have found myself with mixed feelings (and also wondering what would happen if this happened here in fairly liberal but also pretty white and uptight Claremont). 

  On the one hand, I feel very much for the homeless, and I admire these folks for forming a community in a safe and also pleasant spot, and I hear those who didn’t want to give this up. I also don’t like the way the eviction went down, with little and somewhat confusing, perhaps downright murky and not truthful, notice and with a heavy, almost militaristic, police presence. 

   On the other hand, these people shouldn’t have been camping out at the park.  Yes, I said it.  This is a public park, not a campground.  It belongs to the surrounding community, to the families and walkers and joggers who have enjoyed it, to everyone.  The nearby residents were rightfully upset about the park being taken over, about this encroachment on their space, about the human feces and used needles under their feet and the smell or urine that they have had to put up with. 

  I feel for everyone in this case.  Indeed, this is a tragedy, above and beyond the tragedy of there being homeless in our rich society. The homeless deserve to be sheltered where they feel safe and comfortable, where they can pursue the life they want (and preferably with the services they need).  But the nearby residents – and the rest of us – also deserve to live safely and at peace, with public spaces, meant for all to enjoy, not encroached on, taken over by any one group of people. 

   Why can’t the city find empty lots, perhaps including parking lots, that the homeless can camp out on or at least sleep in their cars on overnight.  There are always empty lots available, at least temporarily, or parking lots that can be used overnight.  Or better yet, as has been shown in another area of L.A, the city can provide inexpensive “tiny houses,” which have become popular in the general community, on these empty lots.  Shipping containers have even been used to construct small, attractive shelters. 

   If the city – any city, including even Claremont – really cares and puts some effort and, yes, money into it, this doesn’t have to be so much of a tragedy.  And it would be far less of a tragedy than having tents lined up on and blocking sidewalks and under freeways, much less a public park. 

No comments:

Post a Comment