Study: Unhoused Angelenos sleeping without tents
The number of unhoused people living in Hollywood, Skid Row and Venice remained relatively steady last year, but the population of people living without any type of shelter continues to rise, according to a study released Thursday.
According to the RAND Housing Center, which conducted the study, unsheltered homelessness stayed flat in those Los Angeles neighborhoods between December 2024 and January of this year despite ongoing government efforts to clear tent encampments. RAND said so-called rough sleepers tend to have “greater clinical need” than those who have some type of shelter, are harder to locate and are therefore harder to place in interim or permanent housing. The latest study builds upon some of RAND's previous findings.
Last year, RAND found a 15% decrease in the overall unhoused population in those three neighborhoods in 2024 compared to the previous year. That study also found an increase among"rough sleepers.
" According to the RAND Housing Center, which conducted the study, unsheltered homelessness stayed flat in those Los Angeles neighborhoods between December 2024 and January of this year despite ongoing government efforts to clear tent encampments.
Within those populations, many more people were seen “rough sleeping” — meaning they had no tents, makeshift shelter or vehicles. According to the study, by January, 44% of the total unsheltered population in those areas was “sleeping rough,” compared to 30% in 2021-2022. The study also found that almost 90% of all tents counted in those neighborhoods were in Skid Row near downtown L.A. compared to 60% four years ago.
RAND said the finding is particularly important because so-called rough sleepers tend to have “greater clinical need” than those who have some type of shelter, are harder to locate and are, therefore, harder to place in interim or permanent housing. Researchers warned that “continued reliance on tent-focused homelessness resolution approaches will likely yield diminishing returns, especially in Hollywood and Venice, where these living arrangements are now uncommon. ”• Hollywood and Venice were statistically flat after previous declines in 2024.
Out of the three neighborhoods studied, Skid Row was the only one where the unsheltered population had grown continuously since 2021-2022. • Rough sleeping increased , tent dwelling declined , and vehicle dwelling rose during 2025. Since 2021, the number of tents declined by half and were largely replaced by vehicles and rough sleepers.
• For every four tents removed, three vehicles or rough sleepers were added on average each day. The switch toward fewer tents and more people living in cars or without any shelter at all was “especially pronounced” in Hollywood. South L.A. is becoming a hot spot for live music, thanks in part to a weekly showcase called The Rehearsal. It gives emerging artists a chance to perform at Mercado La Paloma — for free.
The venue also provides free photography, access to their recordings and more. : Yesi Ortiz co-founded The Rehearsal as a way to fight the music industry’s pay-to-play culture and lift that financial burden off the shoulders of new talent. She says artists often have to pay for stage time, as well as their own photography, sound engineering and even recordings of their performances.
“There’s this constant cost that comes with just trying to perform your artwork in front of people,” Ortiz said. “And now you’re in the negative, when you’ve already been in the negative with ... the cost of producing and songwriting that just to perform kind of feels really defeating. ” The Rehearsal aims to be a solution by waiving performance fees and creating an ecosystem of support.
Its founders have their own experience in the music industry — Ortiz is a former host at the radio station Power 106. Co-founders David Tam and Levi Downey are music producers and Shani Bernard is an artist who performs as Marvelous Xe. Artists have the option to pay what they can.
They’ll get access to professional photography and recordings of their performances, which are also live-streamed on YouTube, followed by a Q&A. “We want to be able to give them the tools that they need to be the next Billie Eilish or whoever they want to become as their future,” she said. Ortiz says The Rehearsal is not an open mic. Instead, the showcase looks for artists who are “intentionally working on their craft” and putting effort into their career.
The rise of artificial intelligence is an even bigger motivator to “discover real artists and a real community that believes in supporting that. ” Previous performers include artist Ryck Jane, Coup Deville and sahn. : The Rehearsal will be curating the main stage at NextFest LA, an indie music festival happening at the L.A. County Fair on Sunday.
You can find ticketsor send a DM to The Rehearsal on their Instagram for free tickets. They’ll be showcasing several artists, including Orange County-based singer-songwriter Natasha Mangali.
“She’s a Filipina that combines her Tagalog and English in her music as well. She’s got like a very R&B, soulful sound to her and then you mix all these hip-hop elements,” Ortiz said. Mangali recently performed during The Rehearsal’s eighth season. You can watch her setLater on Thursday, SpaceX is set to conduct a launch of a heavily redesigned version of its Starship rocket.
It'll be a critical test of the largest rocket ever built. The launch comes a little under a month before investors expect SpaceX's much-anticipated initial public offering. The launch is"super important for the IPO," said Franco Granda, a senior researcher who covers SpaceX for the data firm, PitchBook. He believes that if Starship's launch goes badly, it could cause investors' excitement for the IPO"to diminish quite dramatically.
" SpaceX is spending billions of dollars per year developing Starship. The development is eating up the profits from its launch business, which operated at a $662 million loss in the first quarter of this year.ever built. Standing at around 400 feet in height, it's made of durable, but heavy, stainless steel. To overcome its bulk, the spacecraft sits atop an enormous booster called"Super Heavy" that shoots it skyward with 33 Raptor engines.
After Starship separates from the booster, it can ignite its six engines to get to space, while the booster is capable of flying back to earth and landing at its launchpad. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that the ultimate goal is to make Starship return to the pad, allowing the entire system to be reused almost instantaneously. If it works, it would radically lower the cost of launches.
As SpaceX prepares for its public offering, it's undergoing a critical test of the largest rocket ever built.version of its Starship rocket. The new rocket will fly using dozens of new Raptor 3 engines powered by a novel fuel system in the booster. It will also carry upgraded avionics, satellites, and test ports for a future refueling system that could allow Starship to one day reach other destinations like the Moon and even Mars.
The launch comes a little under a month before investors expect SpaceX's much-anticipated initial public offering. Many analysts expect SpaceX to raise up to $75 billion, and to be valued at up to $1.5 trillion. The amount raised could make this the largest IPO ever, and make SpaceX one of the most valuable companies in the world. The launch is"super important for the IPO," said Franco Granda, a senior researcher who covers SpaceX for the data firm, PitchBook.
He believes that if Starship's launch goes badly, it could cause investors' excitement for the IPO"to diminish quite dramatically.
" "Even though tests are inherently tests, and failure typically doesn't dictate what happens later on, I think SpaceX will want to get this one right," he said.released on Wednesday show just how critical the test is. SpaceX is spending billions of dollars per year developing Starship. The development is eating up the profits from its launch business, which operated at a $662 million loss in the first quarter of this year.ever built.
Standing at around 400 feet in height, it's made of durable, but heavy, stainless steel. To overcome its bulk, the spacecraft sits atop an enormous booster called"Super Heavy" that shoots it skyward with 33 Raptor engines. After Starship separates from the booster, it can ignite its six engines to get to space, while the booster is capable of flying back to earth and landing at its launchpad.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that the ultimate goal is to make Starship return to the pad, allowing the entire system to be reused almost instantaneously. If it works, it would radically lower the cost of launches. That's key to SpaceX's short-term and long-term vision. The rocket is expected to carry larger, more capable satellites for the company's Starlink internet service.
It's also being developed into a lunar lander for NASA and as a possible rocket to Mars. Most recently, Musk proposed that Starship could be used toin March to unveil a new chip fabrication facility. To achieve SpaceX's goals,"you need massive payload to space, and Starship will enable that.
" The new financial disclosure document reveals just how much of SpaceX's future relies on Starship's development. "Any failure or delay in the development of Starship at scale or in achieving the required launch cadence, reusability and capabilities thereafter would delay or limit our ability to execute our growth strategy," the document says. It also puts real numbers on how much money SpaceX is spending to develop the giant rocket.
In 2025, the company spent a little over $3 billion dollars. In the first quarter of 2026, it spent another $930 million on Starship development. SpaceX's new Raptor 3 engines deliver more thrust and contain numerous technological improvements, but they have yet to be tested in flight. Success is far from assured.
The first version of Starship launched in April of 2023, but failed to separate from its booster and tumbled out of control. It took three tries before the rocket eventually reached space. The second version of the spacecraft was plagued by multiple failed attempts throughout 2025, though its final two launches went as expected. This third version is an ambitious redesign, said Scott Manley, an engineer and YouTuber who closely tracks Starship's development.
Manley said that the latest version of Starship is more refined. Heat tiles appear more carefully placed, and clunky, temporary fixes, like a"hot staging ring" that was bolted onto the booster after the first accident, have been integrated into the design. Manly said he's particularly interested in how the rocket's new Raptor 3 engines perform. The engines have been heavily redesigned to increase thrust and eliminate the need for bulky shielding on the bottom of the rocket.
The engines have been extensively tested, but they haven't been to space before.
"We don't know how they're going to perform under flight circumstances. " Even if the newest version of Starship flies as expected, the space launch company faces a long path towards making the behemoth rocket work as a business proposition. Starship's heat shield has not yet proven durable enough to survive multiple trips through the atmosphere and the spacecraft itself has yet to attempt a landing at the pad in Brownsville, Texas.
Getting all the parts of Starship to work as planned is far more complex than what SpaceX has done with its existing rocket, the Falcon 9, said Tim Farrar, the president of TMF associates, which analyzes mobile satellite services. Starship is"a multidimensional problem that they haven't actually solved yet," he said.
"You can't justify a valuation well in excess of a trillion dollars based on what SpaceX is doing today," Farrar said. "You've got to believe that Musk will come up with something much bigger than that. "If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Amid tech layoffs, anxiety around artificial intelligence and a forthcoming run for president, Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order that calls for state agencies to explore ways to mitigate job losses stemming from AI. The order, among other things, tells state agencies to explore severance policies, subsidized employment and other ways to help displaced workers. It also calls for a report on the impact of AI on the California labor market.
In addition, it calls for the study of increased job training , stock compensation, cooperative business ownership for workers and how unions are negotiating over AI. The latest order comes a day after Facebook owner Meta laid off 8,000 workers, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing AI in a memo to staff after the cuts. Tech companies Cisco and Block also recently cited AI after laying off thousands of workers.
The order also comes two days after the California Senate passed the No Robo Bosses Act, which prevents businesses from using decisions made by AI and other automated systems as the sole reason a person gets fired or disciplined. The order, among other things, tells state agencies to explore severance policies, subsidized employment and other ways to help displaced workers. It also calls for a report on the impact of AI on the California labor market.
In addition, it calls for the study of increased job training , stock compensation, cooperative business ownership for workers and how unions are negotiating over AI. The latest order comes a day after Facebook owner Meta laid off 8,000 workers, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing AI in a memo to staff after the cuts.
Tech companies Cisco and Block, which prevents businesses from using decisions made by AI and other automated systems as the sole reason a person gets fired or disciplined. Newsom In February, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, members of the California Labor Federation and labor leaders in Democratic primary states pledged to pull support for a Newsom 2028 presidential campaign if he didn’t take steps to protect workers from artificial intelligenceIn a statement shared with CalMatters, California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez said the executive order is welcome but not enough.
"We are glad that Governor Newsom is acknowledging the potential harm of AI on workers, but it's not enough to just study the issue, we have to take action now. Catastrophic job loss from AI is not inevitable, it's a political choice,” she said. The 19 mile-long bus rapid transit route that features 22 stops through North Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Eagle Rock and Pasadena.
Los Angeles Metro is suing the city of Burbank over its refusal to grant construction permits for the local portion of a rapid bus route from North Hollywood to Pasadena. According to a copy of the complaint filed on May 19 in L.A. County Superior Court, Metro argues that Burbank doesn’t have the authority to refuse the construction permits under the California Environmental Quality Act and an agreement forged between the countywide transportation agency and the city.
Burbank City Council only learned about the lawsuit halfway through a six-hour meeting about the bus route held on May 20. Los Angeles Metro is suing Burbank over its refusal to grant construction permits for the local portion of a rapid bus route from North Hollywood to Pasadena. The Burbank City Council only learned about the lawsuit halfway through a six-hour meeting about the bus on May 20.
After the revelation, council members wondered aloud if Metro was watching the live stream and questioned what the purpose of the meeting was if they were now, apparently, in active litigation. The special meeting was called to update the public over staff’s concerns about how a new state housing law could“It turned out the update was more than we thought,” Burbank City Attorney Joseph McDougall said during the meeting.
McDougall said the city hadn’t yet been served as of Wednesday evening. According to a copy of the complaint filed on May 19 in L.A. County Superior Court, Metro argues that Burbank doesn’t have the authority to refuse the construction permits under the California Environmental Quality Act and an agreement forged between the countywide transportation agency and the city.
Metro is asking the court to direct Burbank to “cease conditioning issuance, approval, or processing” of project permits on any of the city’s issues with the design of the bus route. In 2022, Metro’s Board gave final approval for a 19 mile-long bus rapid transit route that features 22 stops through North Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Eagle Rock and Pasadena. Bus rapid transit projects are those that typically feature dedicated bus lanes, signal priority and enhanced stations.
Think of a bus rapid transit as a light rail on wheels instead of tracks. The bus rapid transit project is funded in part with nearly $270 million of local sales taxes collected through Measure M, which county voters approved in 2016. Metro is looking to break ground in July 2026 so the bus is operational in time for the 2028 Olympic Games.
The center of the ongoing battle between Burbank and Metro is the section of yellow in the Burbank portion of the bus rapid transit route showing that the countywide transportation agency wants to construct side-running dedicated bus lanes. The city of Burbank has been resolute through the bus route’s design process that it doesn’t want dedicated lanes along Olive Avenue.
The city’s position is that dedicated bus lanes would leave only one driving lane in each direction on the arterial street, causing congestion and spillover traffic on smaller, neighboring streets. Metro’s position, according to the lawsuit, is that removing dedicated bus lanes would “materially increase travel time and reduce reliability and ridership … undermining the premium transit service that justified the public investment under Measure M.”California Gov.
Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 79 in 2025, which establishes regulations that allow for higher and more-dense housing around specific kinds of transit stops than what local zoning rules would otherwise permit. The qualifying transit stops in the region have yet to be determined.
Still, David Kriske, Burbank’s assistant community development director for transportation, said the bus rapid transit could trigger the law since the five of the six stops in the city would be serviced by buses traveling along full-time, dedicated lanes.do an additional environmental impact review of the project, specifically on any new land use impacts in light of the bill’s passage. Ray Sosa, Metro’s chief planning officer, said “the adoption of statewide legislation that could potentially result in development or redevelopment of parcels near project stops does not require Metro to re-open an environmental review concluded nearly four years ago.
” At Wednesday’s meeting, city officials displayed a poster board showing the potential areas that could be upzoned around the planned bus stops. One incensed public commenter pointed at the map and said it looked like “detonation zones and blast radiuses from Metro into Burbank.
” This image displayed on a poster board facing the public at the May 20 shows where the city of Burbank thinks SB79 would apply because of Metro's bus rapid transit project.is identifiable by its case number: 26STCP01904. Images of the documents filed as part of each case are accessible, too. If you’re looking online, you’ll only be able to see a preview of each document and will have to pay to access the entire document.
You don’t have to pay to view the court documents at kiosks at Superior Court locations throughout the county. Printing the documents will cost money, though. Metro’s legal action isn’t entirely surprising. According to a letter to the city attorney attached to the lawsuit, Metro’s outside counsel had presented a draft of the complaint to the city on May 8.
Metro said in a statement that it “had little choice but to file a suit” since Burbank has “decided to withhold all permits unless Metro removes dedicated bus lanes or conducts additional environmental review because of the passage of SB 79. ”The countywide transportation agency’s lawsuit says it has spent nearly $44 million so far on design and pre-construction of the bus route and that “each day of delay increases Metro’s damages and threatens its ability to deliver the project” by the 2028 Games.
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