A pirate flag ripples in the wind near a tent close to the entrance of a tunnel running beneath the intersection of Channel Road and Pacific Coast Highway.
Most of the drivers, cyclists and beachgoers are unaware of the recent influx of refugees to the area. But these are not people trying to escape some foreign dictatorship – most are from the West Coast.
They come from other parts of Los Angeles, like Santa Monica and Venice. They share diverse backgrounds.
On the Westside, many exist in dichotomous environments of extreme wealth and poverty, often living on streets just a few feet from multi-million dollar homes.
Most in Pacific Palisades suffer from mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism or a combination of all three. Some, like Gray, are just victims of circumstance.
Gray, who would not give his legal name, said the area has become more populated with homeless people as many are being pushed out of Santa Monica because of the city’s sidewalk ordinances.
“By the time they get here, they collapse,” Gray said. “They come here because this is ‘No Man’s Land.’”
While he too is homeless, Gray said he considers himself different from the others. “I grew up here,” he told the Palisadian-Post.
“I went to Marquez and Pali High,” Gray said, adding that he was living in Hawaii before returning to the Palisades to take care of his mother, who later died of cancer.
Nearby business owners and a relative of Gray confirmed he was from the area.
“I worry. I’m vulnerable,” he said, concerned to be talking with the Post. “I don’t have a home.”
No Man’s Land
The City of Santa Monica in 2002 began instituting ordinances restricting activities like sitting or lying on chairs in busy parts of the city where panhandlers prefer to operate, such as the Third Street Promenade and Broadway.
Gray said this has pushed many into the Palisades where they can panhandle and not worry about being hassled by police.
“They are coming because of ‘No Man’s Land,’” Gray said. “They know the canyon is between Santa Monica and LAPD, and it takes them a while to come.”
This knowledge has become widely known among the transient communities, Gray said.
An analysis by the Post found that more than 75 percent of Santa Monica Canyon residents feel the police respond “slowly” or “moderately quickly” to emergencies.
Of nearly 100 participants surveyed by the Post, 25 percent said police responded “not at all quickly,” and 12.5 percent answered “slightly quickly.”
When asked what the main concern was within Santa Monica Canyon, most answered traffic and infrastructure, but many also said the homeless population.
“I’m seeing them walk down East Rustic [Road] in the evening where they find a place to sleep or homes to break into,” wrote a participant, who lives in the 200 block of West Channel.
Crime data from police indicates that car break-ins are on the rise in the area.
LAPD Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore said that years ago, dispatchers had to manually enter had to manually enter Canyon addresses as City of Los Angeles because they wouldn’t appear in the LAPD computer system. Most Canyon residents have a Santa Monica zip code. This made it difficult for dispatchers.
But that has changed. However, Moore admitted that until the zip code is changed to match city boundaries, problems might persist.
Certain street addresses aren’t listed, mostly on Ocean Avenue, Moore said.
“I have not heard of any issues where dispatch is saying ‘No, you’re not showing up in the city,’” he said. “I am confident the issue has been fixed.”
An inability to retain the same officers for the LAPD car that patrols the Palisades is also a problem, said Moore.
“I have five new guys right now,” he said. “They are going to have to learn everything again.”
Another draw for the population of transients is the 534 bus, or Washington/Fairfax line.
The bus line comes through to take them to “the Feed,” Gray said.
The Metro line 534 moves from Venice and Fairfax avenues to Trancas Canyon in Malibu, according to Metro.com.
Gray said the bus drops people near churches that feed the homeless in Malibu.
But they decide to stay in the coastal areas because “the streets are cleaner and the views are nicer,” he said.
One of the locations is the Presbyterian Church in Malibu off of Coastview Drive.
According to Our Lady of Malibu’s website, the church along “with its sister churches and synagogue in Malibu” each take turns once a month to prepare meals and serve “all those who come.”
Once they come they stay, he said, adding many are on methamphetamines and stay up for days, he said.
“They like it because it’s cheap,” he said.
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