News of Venice, CA and Marina del Rey CA
Robert, the young man talking, and Josh under the green tent, would love to have this cleaned up. All this, they say, was here when they arrived. If they had a dumpster, they would clean it up.
This encampment is located behind Deux Ex Machina Emporium of Post at the northeast corner of Lincoln and Venice Blvd, 1001 Venice Blvd, Venice. Access is between the Deux and a Thai restaurant on Lincoln.
At the edge of South Venice Blvd where the Grand Canal enters the parking lot between North and South Venice Blvd, there is an encampment hidden from view.
Up Close it shows a lot of “stuff” jammed in, next to the Grand Canal. This has been missed in the weekly encampment updates because the side visible is the north side of Venice Blvd and that was cleared. Note the canoe in water.
Both photos were taken by Allan Parson, 11 January.
Wow! Venice is getting cleaned up. Communities are taking back their neighborhoods with the help of Sanitation Bureau and the LAPD.. People are shopping without being solicited or being verbally attacked. They are using the sidewalks to go here and there.
The median between the 90 Freeway is clear but there is a stack of litter. Lake is still clear and clean. Carter was clear and partially cleaned. Those people have moved east of Lincoln Blvd on Washington. Harding is over; they have planters in place.
Harrison had one or two inhabitants. Canal between North and South Venice Blvd status is the same. This is a canal contamination situation. Hampton Drive needs more help. Police were there this week but some encampment people linger without ADA compliance.
Venice Blvd, Staples-Lincoln Hardware, and Penmar Park were the worst … but!
Venice Blvd — north and south sides from Abbot Kinney to Pacific are clear and cleaned. There was one man sleeping in North Venice by Farmer’s Market between the trees Sunday morning. Ocean between North and South Venice Blvd has an encampment that has been growing but North and South Venice Blvd is cleared and clean.
Other than Venice Blvd, the great news is Staples – Lincoln Hardware. Update had a special story on the web for this transformation last Tuesday. What a difference. Sanitation came, cleaned the sidewalks, and street on both sides. Members of the community immediately put planters in place following the cleaning. Dirt and rocks were installed and then the plants. People came back to inhabit but police were called and the group moved on.
Penmar Park, west end, is a disaster, a health hazard. The trash and the encampment are both growing. It is totally unsanitary. One homeless person said he was putting trash in trash bins. He was; one could tell. Even one of the alleys leading to the encampment is filled with weeds, furniture and trash. Dirtiest alley around.
Alley.
Garbage.
Garbage in the foreground and part of the site in the back.
Another part of the encampment.
(Photo courtesy of Peter Ruiz.)
(Photo courtesy of Wolf Seeberg.)
Peter Ruiz, the Venice Pier volunteer, arrived at the Venice pier at 5:10 am Tuesday to find firemen putting out the fire and treating a person of interest. Ruiz says pier was fixed and reopened Saturday at 7:30 am.
Darryl DuFay found a short, 10-second video, msn.com, of the event by a CBS correspondent. DuFay says “It was an electrical fire caused by a person under the pier trying to tap into power.”
Someone has erected wooden walls on the west side of the bridge and has a full-on bedroom with a side table. You’ll notice in one of the attached photos, there’s an unattended open flame in one of the bedrooms (Not shown; it was too dark.) Just outside the room were charred books, wood and other partially burned materials. This area is surrounded by dry brush that abuts directly to homes. This seems like a serious fire hazard. Are we expected to just live with people living and cooking meth 1/2 block from our house?
