Following a series of reports by NBC Los Angeles, a large homeless encampment in a South Los Angeles neighborhood has finally been cleared, but neighbors said other problems remain, with no clear solutions in sight.
NBC Los Angeles first reported in July on the encampment near 60th Street and Vermont Avenue, where an alley was filled with piles of trash, mattresses, chairs and other belongings.
The city responded by installing a green fence, preventing unhoused residents from pitching tents and storing personal items in the area.
“We can sleep a little bit easier. We can come in the middle of the night without being scared to park our cars over there,” said Susanna Soto, who lives nearby.
But neighbors like Soto said that while they are relieved the encampment is gone, other issues, including a persistent rat problem, have not been addressed.
“They left the rats,” Soto said, adding that neighbors have had to take matters into their own hands by setting rat traps. “During the day, the rats are coming and going. They’re going inside the houses.”
Helen Garcia, who works at a nearby strip mall, said one of the men who had been living in the alley has simply relocated elsewhere in the neighborhood.
“They’re not solving the root of the issue, so they’re covering it up cosmetically,” Garcia said. “They’re not providing the real solution, which would be places for homeless people to move to.”
NBC Los Angeles reached out to Councilmember Curren Price’s office for comment but had not received a response as of Monday evening.