This morning, the Los Angeles Times reported that City Attorney Mike Feuer is introducing a proposal to ban vehicular dwelling in Los Angeles–again.

The revised proposal comes in the wake of last June’s 9th Circuit Court decision striking down LA Municipal Code 85.02, banning vehicular dwelling. The court claimed the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague, leading to inconsistent enforcement of the law. It was the second time in as many years the court ruled against the city’s handling of the growing homeless population. With Feuer’s forthcoming proposal, it seems increasingly possible that history will repeat itself–with the taxpayer footing the bill.

Mr. Feuer’s proposal has yet to be released, but purportedly presents a “tighter wording” of the law that would “pass court muster”. The Times article suggests that sleeping in one’s car will become illegal once again in Los Angeles, with special “non-residential” areas designated solely for the vehicular homeless. With a homeless population around 50,000–thousands of them living in vehicles–this attempt at a solution might seem like a thinly veiled attempt at pushing the homeless out of view, leaving those left behind to be badged, once again, as criminals.

It’s possible areas such as this–below an I-10 overpass–will be designated for vehicular dwellers under City Attorney Feuer’s proposal. Exactly where those areas will be located remains to be seen.

This is nothing new for the modern-day trend of legislating against homelessness in America. Cities across the country are making it illegal to engage in basic human activities–resting, eating, sleeping–spending millions of dollars on law enforcement and in the courts, just to make sure these laws get homeless people out of sight. Yet these laws fail to address the growing problem in our cities: Unaffordable housing and lack of adequately paying jobs.

In June of last year, Mike Feuer promised to “commit ourselves to grappling with the issues that create homelessness in the first place.” Save for a Mayor Garcetti-backed initiative to house the city’s homeless veterans in a controversial West LA Veteran’s Affairs facility, that hasn’t happened. In fact, the city has done precious little to combat the real issues behind the housing crisis in LA, choosing instead to find creative ways to punish those who’ve fallen victim to the neglect.

Affordable housing in LA is scarce. I found that myself, when a studio apartment I started renting for a base $900/month in 2010 went on the market for nearly $1,500 two years later. A recent study by the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate says the average apartment in LA requires its renter to make $33/hour. That’s nearly $70,000/year. The per-capita income, meanwhile, is well below half that.

Is criminalizing poverty really the answer?

Studies suggest no. Criminalization not only fails to answer the problems causing homelessness, it creates more issues. A 2014 economic-impact analysis by Creative Housing Solutions, studying the cost of homelessness in Central Florida, found that $149 million over the next decade in reduced law enforcement by housing its chronically homeless and providing case workers. Cities such as Salt Lake City and Albuquerque have had success mitigating their homeless problem in similar ways. So why is Los Angeles still acting so archaically?

The vocal opposition, for one. Agitators like the Venice Stakeholders Association continue to be a thorn in the side of local decision-makers, using their connections to share their opinions on wide-reaching fora and push for policy that protects their lifestyle. Vocal VSA members like Mark Ryavec vocalize their anti-homelessness opinion louder and more efficiently than others, using every opportunity to demonize the homeless in order to transform their eclectic community into an intolerant one.

Or perhaps Mr. Feuer and our city council will follow through with their promise and present some real solutions to combat the roots of homelessness in LA.

Until then, the numbers of vehicular homeless in LA will continue to grow. Regardless of what the law says.

– TOH