L.A. Neighborhood Is in Turmoil After Residents Place Boulders in an Underpass to Deter the Unhoused

[Demovictory9]

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An L.A. Neighborhood Is in Turmoil After Residents Place Boulders in an Underpass to Deter the Unhoused

An unofficial effort to keep tents from popping up under the highway in the Reynier Village neighborhood has caused citywide outcry


By Cerise Castle -September 11, 2020
On Sunday, September 6, as record-breaking temperatures scorched the region, a crew got to work placing approximately 60 large rocks along the walls of the Cattaraugus Tunnel, an I-10 freeway underpass that connects L.A.’s Reynier Village neighborhood and the Culver City Arts District. The project was orchestrated by a group of housed neighbors intent on keeping unhoused people from continuing to take refuge in the tunnel.


“The city was not able to do it for us, so we took action,” says W. Peter Iliff, a Hollywood screenwriter who’s lived in Reynier Village for two years. “When an opportunity arose and there was no homeless in the tunnel, we moved very quickly, because we were kind of laying in wait for this opportunity.”

Iliff—who wrote both Point Break and Varsity Blues, and directed Trump’s America, a short film that centers on L.A.’s homelessness crisis—co-organized a GoFundMe that promised to “clean up the tunnel, make it safe, and a beautiful gateway to and from Reynier Village,” and raised upward of $3,600. The GoFundMe has since been taken down.

https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/south-robertson-underpass-rocks/

[chillfactor]

1. asshats! n/t

[greenjar_01]

2. Goddamnit

I love Point Break.

[Demovictory9]

3. Authorities are working to get rocks removed

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[Demovictory9]

7. Peter Iliff mocking a caller during public comment

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[IcyPeas]

4. The boulders have been removed

I live 2 blocks from the 101 freeway. There is an encampment 3 blocks away from me under the underpass. There was a fire there this week, one of the tents was destroyed along with a lot of junk that they possess.

The backlash from homeless advocates, activists and their supporters came quickly. A group of volunteers removed many of the stones a few days later.

https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/homeless-dijon-kizzee-art?utm_source=KCRW&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=kcrw-show-rss

[Demovictory9]

8. here it says the Iliff had to pay to get boulders removed

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[I_UndergroundPanther]

5. Why do housed people

Hate the homeless so much. Seems the richer they are the more hateful they are. Class war sucks,especially if you are poor and homeless.

If Mitch does not pass a bill to get money to people there will be a lot more homeless people. I wish I could make the hateful rich homeless so they could know how it feels.

[chowder66]

6. It's not just the rich.

The Nimby's (Not-In-My-Back-Yard people) don't want to see them.... but they fight to block housing being built anywhere near them....so the homeless stay on the street where the Nimby's can see them. Rinse and repeat.

There is zero logic to this.

[Deb]

9. Eww, drainage from the pipes and room for emergency vehicles to pass?