Homelessness Falls in America But Rises in Big Cities
Homelessness is on the rise in many of America's biggest cities as wealth concentrates in urban centers, elevating rents and squeezing supplies of affordable housing in places like Los Angeles and New York, new federal data show.
November 20, 2015 •
By James Nash and Esme E. Deprez
Homelessness is on the rise in many of America's biggest cities as wealth concentrates in urban centers, elevating rents and squeezing supplies of affordable housing in places like Los Angeles and New York, new federal data show.
Homelessness in and around big U.S. cities increased 3 percent this year, even as the nation's overall rate declined 2 percent, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released Thursday. Nowhere has the problem grown more acute than in the Los Angeles region, where the homeless population rose 20 percent, to more than 41,000 people. Los Angeles has the largest unsheltered population in the U.S., according to the department.