Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivered her second annual State of the City address on Monday, where she discussed the Los Angeles homelessness crisis, the 2028 Olympics, the 2026 World Cup and more.
Unhoused Crisis
Bass focused extensively on the homelessness crisis the city faces, acknowledging that 46,000 individuals in Los Angeles are currently unhoused.
“For too long, Angelenos have been failed by quick fixes and unhoused people just being shuffled around,” Bass said. “Angelenos deserve real solutions.”
After drawing criticism due to its high cost, Bass justified her initiative known as Inside Safe, which aims to tackle the issue of homelessness head-on. She specified that the initiative focuses on preventing homelessness instead of hiding or merely managing the issue.
“We will end homelessness with a new strategy and a new system that urgently lifts people from the street and surrounds them with the support and housing that they need to never go back to the streets,” Bass said.
The program provides housing for the unhoused and consists of four steps: outreach, connection, move-in day and housing. According to Bass, Inside Safe has taken thousands off the streets since its implementation.
Responding to criticism about the initiative, Bass said that “it is far, far more expensive to leave people unhoused on our streets.” According to Bass, calls to fire departments, paramedics and police as a result of homelessness are costly for the city.
“I just will not accept this, and our city can’t afford to accept it,” Bass said.
In addition, Bass said that Inside Safe is seeking donations from the private sector and that she will be introducing a new campaign called “LA for LA,” which will use private funding to acquire property, lower capital costs and speed up the housing process for unhoused individuals.
The 2028 Olympics and 2026 World Cup
Los Angeles is set to host the Olympic Games in 2028 and will hold eight World Cup matches in 2026. These two events will put an international spotlight on Los Angeles and make way for major economic developments within the city, according to Bass.
“The Olympics are about opportunity and that opportunity begins now,” Bass said, explaining that the games will bring more than five million visitors and billions of dollars. “My administration will create a focused initiative to make sure that the games will mean hundreds of small businesses winning contracts and hiring Angelenos.”
Bass believes that the World Cup and the Olympics will also allow Los Angeles to change negative preconceptions about the city.
“I want the world to see all levels of government joining forces, locking arms and actually working together,” she said.
Public transportation
During her speech, Bass also discussed concerns about the safety of public transportation in Los Angeles.
“We want the world to see that Los Angeles is now the number two transit city in the country because riders are seeing that we are changing Metro’s approach to safety, cleanliness, and customer service,” Bass said.
She said that investment in new tracks, safety and other changes to the city’s transportation system will create a more connected city.