On Feb. 24, 2022, Long Beach’s annual homeless count determined there were 3,296 people experiencing homelessness, a 62% increase since 2020.
Long Beach’s unemployment went from 4.5% in 2019 to 13% in 2020. Meanwhile, rents continue to rise, especially in traditionally affordable neighborhoods. For example, over the past 10 years, rental prices in Long Beach rose dramatically with an average studio going from under $700 per month to a current average rent of $1,450.
“We are providing a higher level of service and funding in terms of homelessness than we ever have before,” said Christopher Koontz, director of development services, at a council meeting.
Although the survey noted a plethora of factors leading to the homelessness crisis such as mental illness, poverty, and family and or relationship issues, city officials cited the pandemic as one key element. Overall, 43.7% of people surveyed reported unemployment or financial reasons as the main contributing factor to their homelessness.
Cambridge University Press defines hostile or defensive architecture as “the design of public spaces in a way that stops unwanted behavior”. The real purpose behind the hostile architecture is to limit the use of public spaces and discourage people who rely on public structures for rest from staying in an area for too long.
Due to the over 3,000 unhoused people living in long beach, this leads the unsheltered to depend on public parks, benches, and sidewalks for rest and refuge.
What can anti-homeless architecture look like? It can include aggressive approaches such as sidewalk dividers, segmented benches, ground and window sill spikes, curved benches, barred corners, and median gates. Less obvious methods include flower beds and other foliage, sidewalk boulders, and eccentric multi-use structures such as the “Bike Bike Rack”.
Hostile architecture tends to be subtly incorporated into the design because city planners always know there can be multiple uses for these architectural features. Most people don’t think twice about these things. They see a curved bench or benches with “armrests” and think it’s a reinvigorated design choice.
Simple designs such as median gates and bike racks are subtly created to hide their true purpose behind the facade of revitalizing the town with vibrant designs.
The most prevalent in Long Beach are segmented benches, with a total of 182 benches. That makes up 87.44% of the hostile architecture.
Although there is less hostile architecture present in these East Long Beach communities, a considerable amount exists along bus routes, parks, and the beach. A Hostile architecture survey shows there are over 200 present examples downtown and Belmont shore alone.
What does the presence of anti-homeless architecture reveal about a community? Interactive maps and household income in LA County data provided by an Antihomeless Hostile Architecture in Long Beach survey indicated a possible relationship between hostile architecture and other societal attributes such as income and race.
This brings up questions about if hostile architecture even prevents the accumulation of homelessness in the area. Instead of solving the socioeconomic root of the issue, it simply moves the homeless out of sight and to different areas.
The dangers of anti-homeless architecture surpass the physical threats. Hostile architecture is unethical in the sense that rather than helping mediate the issue and establishing support programs, the cities create discomfort, and harass and punish those who need help. All this does is isolate homeless people from our communities and make them feel targeted by punishing them for often uncontrollable situations.
This sort of “out of sight, out of mind” approach is harmful to the homeless population because it often just moves them to uninviting and dangerous environments rather than providing facilities and preventing further issues. Hidden aggressive architecture is a clear and direct message to the unhoused community.
Hostile architecture disrupts public space for everybody and designates it to who the city feels is socially desirable. The negativity of the unwelcoming environments caused by hostile architecture reaches past the homeless community. In attempts to punish vulnerable populations like the homeless and public transit-reliant people, everyone has to experience discomfort and inconvenience.
Between the fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the City of Long Beach distributed a total of $1.06 million in funding toward housing support that connected residents to services, expand housing programs, and provided information about tenant protection programs. On Feb. 7, 2023, the city expanded its 100-Day Plan homelessness crisis effort by investing $12 million to increase care and outreach.
Organizations and projects such as Project HomeKey, Roomkey, safety lots, the Multi-Service Center downtown, and more steps taken by the city that aim in providing housing for the homeless population are important in reducing homelessness and far more helpful in the issue than hostile architecture. This is because of the services and resources they provide for the guests such as the Mental Health Advisory Group and mental health clinicians as part of the REACH team and are seeking funding for mobile mental health and substance use services.
Although these initiatives give hope to the public, the homelessness crisis remains a difficult issue to solve.
Research done by the University of New Mexico Institute for Social Research reveals a large economic benefit from housing the homeless population. Rather than relying on reactive strategies that negatively affect people, cities should solve the socioeconomic issue at the source by housing the homeless and making cities affordable and accessible. Homelessness prevention plans that include tenant protections should be provided for a more proactive approach rather than reactive.
According to an article in FORTHE, a nonprofit grassroots media organization for Long Beach, Pamela West, a resident of north Long Beach, has seen families defeated by the lack of support systems for those dealing with homelessness. She recalled how she helped a man petition for support from the Multi-Service Center but they were consistently turned away.
“The capacity is met at the door before you even get in,” said West. “They say, ‘We only help 25 a day. Come back tomorrow.’ Some people sleep in the parking lot overnight just to be turned away.”
