Homeless on the Move to Westwood

WESTWOOD, Calif. -- January 14, 2003 -- Residents are struggling to meet the demands of homeless migration around the UCLA campus. Students have noticed a marked increase in the number of homeless roaming around the area in the past few months.

Increased homeless activity was initially noted through anecdotal accounts by college kids. One complained that he was about to get a burrito at Roll Inn, the outdoor stand on Gayley Avenue, but thought better of it when he saw homeless had set up shop in the parking lot right there.

"I think many are attracted by the improvements we've made around here at UCLA," said Gundala Sindh, spokesperson for the Homeless Transmigration Project (HTP), a new graduate program in the UCLA Anthropology department. "Although Santa Monica has long been the main homeless haven, 'Home of the Homeless' as they say, we're starting to see a change in that trend."

The annual movement of the homeless from the beaches to inner city freebie clinics, and back out, has been documented closely by the emerging field of tranzie-migration specialists. Experts in homeless transmigration patterns at UCLA are putting their heads together to figure out why so many are choosing to make Westwood their present abode.

"Many homeless I talk to are simply fed up with the poor treatment they're receiving in Santa Monica," said Sindh. "Decreasing services, higher prices. It's getting too expensive to live there. Westwood offers an affluent environment and the same quality of amenities as Santa Monica, and I think a lot of the homeless are starting to realize there is opportunity to live well here."

The Santa Monica City Council recently passed laws restricting what was a legal resting place for the homeless. The city has also begun requiring permits for organizations to serve meals at homeless hubs, a measure that has drawn fierce criticism from hungry homeless, and from the people who give them free food.

From Wilshire Gazette (February 2003)

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