Nguyen 1

Alex Nguyen
Ali M. Meghdadi
English 39C/ Section 33321
February 8, 2015
The Complications of Urbanization
Urbanization, the result of the Industrial Revolution, transitioned America from a place of
agriculture into factories. Towns and cities expanded to accommodate the growing influx of
migrants from rural areas who sought employment opportunities and a higher standard of living.
The population increase led to a string of consequent events. Competition for limited resources
caused an increase in unemployment. The unemployed fell into poverty and could no longer
afford the rising cost of living, resulting in a high rate of homelessness.
Homelessness has caused problems for
many cities such as Los Angeles. Los
Angeles Police Department witnessed
police cars from at least four out-oftown police departments drop off
homeless people on the streets of
downtown Los Angeles. According to
Captain Andrew Smith, who commands
Figure 1: In this 2006 file photo provided by Los
Angeles police, ambulance workers drop off a
patient on skid row, even though police reports
indicated he wanted to be taken to his residence at
a Pasadena convalescent home (Los Angeles Police
Department).

the downtown division, he and a partner

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saw two sheriff deputies drop off a mentally ill man in skid row after he was released from the
Central Jail (Winston). Figure 1 shows a picture of an ambulance dropping off an injured
homeless patient with no insurance. Rather than helping the homeless, police and hospitals
evaded the problem by moving them to the streets of Los Angeles. The dumping of homeless
citizens was one reason why there was an increase in homeless people on the streets in 2005.
Figure 2, by the 2013 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, shows that there has been an
increase in homeless citizens since 2009. That was an increase of 8,000 people within the next
two years. However, the transferring of homeless people to different regions is only a minor
problem. The major problem is failure to meet financial needs and paying ones bills. The
financial burden will only continue to increase because there is not enough government and
community support.
There is not enough help towards the homeless because of a predisposition towards
homeless people. People associate the idea of homelessness with the characteristics of laziness
and hostility. Majority of American would think it is their fault for being poor and because they
are not resilient enough to get out of their own situation, it is their fault. Just because people
work hard, overcome struggles, and succeed in surpassing the poverty line does not mean that
those who are homeless

Figure 2: Comparison between the number of homeless and

amount of streets and shelters counts.

did not work hard. It does not mean that they are lazy and did not overcome struggles. According
to Paul Toro, a psychology professor at Wayne State University, Toro found that compared to
other countries, people who live in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom that
have more capitalistic economies and offer fewer social services, are more likely to believe
personal failings are the primary cause of homelessness and feel less compassion for homeless
people (Figueroa). There are people in society who do not realize that these poor people are the

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same as everyone else in

the world but born in
different environment or
because of tragic events
that happened, not
because they failed. If
the community is more aware of the cause for their lack of a job, education, or home, people
might be more compassionate and thus, willing to lend a hand instead of having these
preconceived notions about homelessness. Another presumption people have is that homeless
people are something to be wary of and that the homeless should stay away from non-homeless.
People fear homeless off the presumptions that they are beggars, addicts, mentally ill or
violent (Yook). Hailey Yook, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, noticed the
reaction of other students around homeless people. Homeless people are common around
Berkeley; one would see around five to fifteen homeless men and women with their belongings
while walking to class. This is what happened to Yook at UC Berkeley: A woman who appeared
to be homeless sat down on a nearby bench with her cart of belongings. Almost every student she
sat by got up and moved to another spot farther away from her, as if she had terribly wronged
them in some way (Yook). The social segregation towards homeless people will invoke negative
feelings and cause them to get outrage towards people who treat them like criminals because
everyone deserves equal and fair treatment. Eventually their anger might get the best of them and
provoke irrational action. A homeless man, Dustin Kinnear, was sentenced to prison for twelve
years for fatally stabbing Christina Calderon in Hollywood (Homeless). Calderon took pictures
of Kinnear panhandling for money and Kinnear asked for compensation but Calderon refused

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and an argument formed between them that resulted in the stabbing of Calderon in the torso. It is
tough living on the street and tough panhandling for money, getting rejected hundreds of times a
day. Taking a picture of a person when they are homeless and panhandling is socially and
mentally humiliating. All these people want is fair treatment and support. These presumptions are
because of an illusion that people with homes are better than homeless people. The idea that
homeless individuals are lower in class is due to unfamiliarity. This unfamiliarity makes
homelessness harder to overcome especially, with the increase in unemployment leading to more
homeless individuals.

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Figure 3: Describes the unemployment rate between Los Angeles

and New York between the years 1990- 2014. The data was
acquired from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Before urbanization, unemployment was not recognized as a problem in rural areas and
thus homelessness was not a problem. This is because the rural town had everyone they needed
and made use of who they had, in order to sustain a decent lifestyle. Los Angeles is now the most
urbanized city in America and has the highest unemployment rate and living cost. It became
known as the City in Decline (Black). They are known as the City in Decline because job
availability has declined since the 1990s. That is when immigrants flood into Los Angeles as
shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows that in 2005 unemployment rates were low. From then on,
unemployment rate skyrocketed to almost three times the amount in six years. That spike on
Figure 3 correlates to Figure 2s increase in homeless from 2009 and onward. As more people
became unemployed, more became homeless. The increase in unemployment was due to the fact
that Los Angeles added a million residents between 1980 and 2010; however, during that same
time, the city lost 165,000 jobs (Black). The loss of jobs and the influx of immigrants caused
unemployment to increase drastically as one can see in Figure 2 during the year 1990 when the
homeless count was 88,345.

Figure 4: The percentage of immigrants migrating

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Figure 5: Immigrants based on origin migrating toward Los

Angeles every 30 years.

The migration of immigrants from

towards Los Angeles

Mexico, El Salvador,

Philippines, Guatemala, and Korea to America, as depicted in Figure 5, has increased

competition for jobs (Los Angeles, 1). Comparing Figures 3 and 4 reveal a correlation between
immigration rates and unemployment Immigrants became a huge part of the total population of
Los Angeles in the 1990s. Figure 3 shows a ten percent increase in the number of immigrants
since 1980. The increase in immigrants and
unchanging amount of housing results in not
enough homes. Immigrants will have to live in
the slums or become homeless or move
elsewhere. The migration of immigrants to other
parts of America will only result in an increase in
housing and competition for jobs. Immigrants
migrating elsewhere are just avoiding the
problem for that specific area. The immigrants in America will affect the opportunities for future
kids and adults to get a decent paying job unless government and community support is
provided.

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Poverty rates increased for young to middle-aged immigrants due to competition as

shown in Figure 6. The decrease in poverty was due to the fact that people were settling in and
because of the decline in immigrants moving in to Los Angeles. Despite the decrease in poverty
rates, the number of workers in Los Angeles County who earn less than $25,000 has dropped
only slightly from 2006 (Connell). Poverty rate is not proportional to income rate. However,
when poverty increases, living expenses increase. Los Angeles Times writer Rich Connell
illustrates the lifestyle of Brigitte Erickson in order to represent the economic turnover in 2008.
Erickson lives a comfortable lifestyle; she goes out to eat, has a nice apartment, and enjoys other
Figure 6: Poverty rates from the year 1970-2010
separated by age.

entertainment. However, in 2008 a big rent increase

forced Erickson to move out of her Arcadia apartment, and the rising cost of gas and other
consumer goods impelled her to go out less often (Connell). In Figure 6, the slight increase in
poverty rates in 2008 results in Erickson losing her home. With income not increasing and with
the increasing living expenses and declining of jobs, citizens of Los Angeles need multiple jobs
just to pay their rent.
As Los Angeles became urbanized, living expenses increased. The rent burden went from
30 percent to 60 percent within three decades as shown in Figure 7. This is significant to not only
Los Angles but America as well. Americas rent burden went from 25 percent to 50 percent
within the same timeframe and it is continuing to increase. According to the trend, there will be
an increase in rent burden from five to ten percent within the next decade. The drastic increase in
rent is causing the increase in rent burden. Los Angeles rent control prevents the financial
incentive of building more apartments. This means that there will be more people but no new
apartments. The high competition for homes raises the prices of housing. Rent control is a law
that limits the amount a landlord can raise rent. However, rent control does not keep rent cost

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low. Rent has risen 25 percent between the year 2000 and 2012 in Los Angeles (LA Rent) and
that

contributed to the spike in rent

burden seen in Figure
7. The competition
will drive the prices
up, creating risks of
growth in
homelessness and
overpopulation. A

Figure 7: United States and Los Angeles rent burden percentage

as time pass.

person living in rent

controlled units pays an average of $1612 a month (LA Rent). That is 19,344 dollars a year
solely for rent. Over 30 percent of the full time workers cannot afford that kind of money solely
on rent. Most immigrants work multiple low paying jobs. This is because business advocates
hiring hard-working, low-cost, illegal worker. If one goes to a restaurant in a predominantly
white or black community, they will see a disproportionate number of middle-aged Latinos
working (Reyes). Jobs that are below minimum wage at 40 hours a week will get the person 320
dollars without tax reduction. A month of working yield 1,280 dollars, which alone is not enough
to pay the average, unsanitary apartments in Los Angeles. Edgar, a 21-year-old Latino immigrant
said, I work really hard, and I only get $8. I live with my wife; we barely make enough to pay
rent (Kim). As time passes, the rent burden will only increase and because of urbanization,
millions of immigrants will come to America and compete for resources such as jobs. Cheaper
labor will make it more difficult for future Americans to get a job.

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The risk of urbanization is whether we have enough opportunities and resources for the
many immigrants coming to America. If there are not enough resources such as jobs or homes,
both immigrants and Americans will be living a life of poverty. With not enough programs and
support, it is nearly impossible to recover. Without jobs, not everyone can afford basic human
needs. A recession can and has happen in America causing many Americans to lose their jobs and
became homeless. It is urgent that there will be programs and support to fight against poverty
because when living a life in poverty, one is not really living. It is possible to stop poverty but in
order to do so; we need to support each other.

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