Venice Beach's Rose Avenue has a new nickname: 'Skid Rose.'
The city's new enforcement of its boardwalk curfew has resulted in the homeless moving from the beach into the surrounding upscale residential neighborhoods, CBS reports.
Venice homeowners are furious. Resident Virgil Chao told CBS, “The homeless are hassling us, they’re yelling at us.” He added, “They unload their toilets right onto the street. And it’s just right in broad daylight.”
Mark Ryavec, of the Venice Stakeholders Association, said the problem is that the homeless individuals don't want to go to shelters. “They’re so comfortable with this lifestyle…with the drugs, with the surfing, the skateboarding…with the easy access to the beach," he said. "They don’t want to go into any environment where they might have to deal with rules.”
However, Carmen Banick, who hangs out on the boardwalk during the day and on Rose Avenue at night, said, “It’s not that they don’t want to go. I went to a shelter once and I got sicker going there.” She added: “There are only so many places to go.”
LA Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents the district, wrote on his blog, “Because of two existing court cases, the city is restricted in its enforcement of where homeless people can sleep.”
He told CBS: “The issue is bigger than the city’s resources. It will take federal funding to improve the homeless situation in Venice and greater Los Angeles.”