Busting the myths on downtown L.A.'s homeless problems.

SKID Row is news. Steve Lopez articles, ACLU lawsuits, street sweeps, loft developers, demonstrations, condo conversions, strategic plans, and downtown businesses have focused attention on this 50 square block area in downtown Los Angeles.

While there is universal agreement that we need to make Skid Row a cleaner, safer place, there are wildly different visions of how to accomplish this.

As the debate over Skid Row sharpens, a number of myths about the area have surfaced. These myths muddy the waters at a time when a clear, bright light should be focused on the issue.

Let me dispel some of those myths.

Myth: Homelessness in Los Angeles is primarily a Skid Row problem.

Fact: About 5 percent of Los Angeles County's homeless population lives in Skid Row.

There are 88,345 people who are homeless every night in the county, including 48,103 in the City of Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's most recent count. While that report didn't provide a breakout for Skid Row, estimates of the number of people living on the streets, in abandoned buildings or in shelters in Skid Row commonly hover around 4,000 to 5,000, including about 3,000 residing in homeless service programs. That's about the same number of people who are homeless in Long Beach.

While there is a concentration of homeless people in Skid Row, homelessness is not exclusively a downtown problem. Encampments of homeless people can be found with alarming frequency throughout the region. Homelessness is a national issue, driven by poverty and the cost of housing. Anyone who rents an apartment or has recently purchased a home understands too well that housing costs have skyrocketed, while most incomes have remained flat. Is it any surprise that homelessness is growing?

Myth: Crime is sharply increasing in Skid Row.

Fact: Crime has fallen in the Los Angeles Police Department's Central District, the home of Skid Row.

Violent crime fell 18 percent and property crime fell 29 percent between 2004 and 2006 as reported by LAPD's Central Area Compstat crime report for the week ending Aug. 12. Between 2005 and 2006, violent crime slightly rose by 2 percent but property crimes fell by 22 percent.

Myth: There is more housing for poor people in Skid Row now than ever before.

Fact: The number of housing units for poor people in Skid Row has been cut in half since the 1960s.

In the mid-1960s there were about 15,000 hotel rooms and apartment units for low income people in the Skid Row area, according to Donald Spivak, Deputy Administrator of the L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency. Today there are about 6,600 units, including 2,900 operated by nonprofit agencies and 3,700 in business hands.

If these units had not been torn down, sold or converted to market rate units, there would be housing for every homeless person in downtown Los Angeles. This loss of units continues to this day.

Myth: The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency created Skid Row in the 1970s.

Fact: Skid Row has been home to poor and disabled people for more than 100 years.

A transient population began gathering in the region shortly after the railroads came to Los Angeles in the 1870s. Missions were located in Skid Row in the early 1900s. From the Great Depression of the 1930s onward, Skid Row continued to be home for many poor, mentally ill and substance abusing single individuals.

While the 1975 CRA redevelopment plan for the area encouraged the continued centralization of social services for poor and disabled single individuals, it did not break new ground in this regard. Skid Row had already been providing these sorts of services for decades.

Myth: Other communities need to contribute their "fair share" before more housing or services are built in downtown.

Fact: There is an immediate need for affordable housing and social services throughout the county, including downtown.

In the last 40 years, downtown Los Angeles has lost more than 8,000 affordable units, pushing more and more people on to the streets. The reaction to this downward spiral has been condo conversion moratoriums, lawsuits and an increasingly adversarial relationship between downtown constituencies.

Yes, there is a clear, pressing need for affordable housing and social services throughout the county. At the same time, there is a similar need in downtown. Ignoring this reality, while waiting for other communities to take action, punishes everyone.

There is no doubt that Skid Row is a tragedy that demands action. However solutions must be based upon truths, not fiction. The county and city of Los Angeles, downtown businesses, community advocates and others must all face up to those realities, if meaningful change is going to occur.

Paul Tepper is executive director of the Weingart Development Corp. in Los Angeles, which develops affordable housing.