Erica Quintana
Midterm 2012
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Homelessness in Los Angeles: LA has the highest numbers
of homelessness in the country an estimated 53,000.
About 12,000 of these individuals are chronically homeless
or veterans for whom permanent supportive housing is the
reported to be the best answer.
The hypothesis of this project, which was supported, was
that permanent supportive housing is concentrated in the
City of Los Angeles.
Many cities have homeless numbers that are not negligible
but no permanent supportive housing to address the needs
of the homeless in these areas (e.g. Pomona and El Monte).
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These are actual count numbers from LAHSA’s count in 2011. The next count is January 2013. The previous
count included 34 cities or communities that opted in to count. In this next count there will be 67 communities
that count their homeless. This will provide richer data and allow for better analysis of the PSH geographic
distribution.
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These numbers are estimated via the census. These are just estimates. It is important to get these numbers from
actual enumerations like through the LAHSA bi-annual homeless count. However, some cities decline to
participate.
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Most of the PSH are densely located in the City
of Los Angeles.
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The high homeless population and proliferation of
service providers largely explain this phenomenon
Even with an explanation for the “why” of the
situation there is still a need in many parts of
the county for permanent supportive housing
to address the needs of the homeless.
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Oftentimes homeless individuals do not have means
of transportation to get to cities that could provide
more support for their situation
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Draw buffers and analyze the gaps between
homeless numbers and numbers of PSH units
Try to get data into census tract format to add
it additional data about poverty levels,
community engagement etc.
Create an index or attribute that will help
identify what cities to target in improving PSH
stock including things like whether or not the
city has its own Public Housing Authority.
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United Way of Greater Los Angeles: Permanent
Supportive Housing data.
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority:
City/Community Counts and City shapefiles.
2010 Census: Unsheltered homeless count
estimates for cities that weren’t counted in
LAHSA’s homeless count.
ESRI: Shapefiles
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Geocoding- address locator for PSH locations.
Select by attributes- City of Pomona, City of El Monte.
Graduated symbol: Total Units in PSH.
Geoprocessing- Projecting shapefiles into compatible
projection for analysis, clip LA County background.
Inset Map: Pomona selected in LA County, Pomona in
a larger view. El Monte selected in LA County, El
Monte in a larger view.
Aggregating attribute fields: Aggregated in excel
numbers from LAHSA data to reflect Total
Unsheltered Homeless= Youth+ Street+ Hidden.