Homelessness in L.A. has reached crisis proportions as income inequality, structural racism, failing mental health services, and drug addiction all collide with rapid gentrification. nytimes.com/interactive/20… For those on the margins, the cost of living is moving further out of reach, and the county's sprawling system of over 700 shelters is at overflowing. In parts of downtown especially, street conditions are deteriorating as thousands of people on the streets have nowhere to go.