DISMANTLING L.A.'s 'WALLED CITY'

Hong Kong Tore Down Its Patch of Urban Squalor in 1994; Los Angeles
Should Do the Same With Skid Row.

YEARS AGO I ventured into the Walled City, an infamous block of
metropolitan high-rise decay in Kowloon, in the heart of Hong Kong. I
felt like Alice falling into an urban rabbit hole.

A majority of the 50,000 residents who lived on a mere 6.5 acres
rarely saw the sun. Some narrow streets led to nowhere. Surrounded by
a modern metropolis, the decayed turf was owned by the Chinese
government during the time Hong Kong was ruled by Britain. With no
clear political control, it was a lawless land ruled by gangs and drug
dealers.

Today, Los Angeles' skid row reminds me of the beginnings of the
Walled City, once the most densely populated piece of land in the
world. Ours is likely the most densely populated area of homelessness
in the United States, with 10,000 homeless people within 50 square
blocks. Community leaders are fighting about when and where laws can
be enforced within skid row. Enforce laws during the day, but provide
a legal reprieve at night? Law enforcement officials say their hands
are tied, so more and more squatter tents are springing up.

A jurisdiction with little or no police presence attracts criminal
behavior that brews lawlessness. Could skid row become our version of
a lawless, homeless haven, a walled city within a metropolis? The
foundational elements have already been laid -- confusing laws that
tie the hands of law enforcement, growing squatter encampments,
jurisdictional leaders fighting about what to do and surrounding
municipalities that are happy that this area -- not theirs -- is
bearing the brunt of the homeless problem.

But there is hope.

BY 1994, HONG KONG'S Walled City was no more. Community leaders
realized that it had become an international embarrassment to an
otherwise world-renowned tourist attraction. So they dismantled the
enclave even as advocates fought to save it. The government spent
nearly half a billion dollars to provide affordable housing for squatters.

With smart, sound solutions -- such as providing L.A.'s squatters with
a place to live -- everything else falls into place. The police can
instill law and order, businesses can attract customers, residents are
able to feel safe and people who now languish on our streets have a
place to call home.

Only when our community leaders can agree that the real solution to
this societal plague called homelessness is providing decent and
affordable housing for everyone will L.A.'s version of a walled city
be no more.