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Karen Bass’ homeless victory lap is an expensive tribute to failure
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass opened a homeless housing project costing $72 million, but the opinion article argues that its small scale and high price make it a poor measure of progress. It criticises the city’s Housing First approach, saying that providing accommodation without addressing other needs has not meaningfully reduced homelessness.
The facility is a converted Motel 6 with 111 units, which the article calculates at about $650,000 per unit and more than $2,000 per square foot, based on an estimated 300 square feet per room. The author argues that public spending benefits service organisations without solving the problem, and calls for enforcing anti-camping laws, requiring sobriety programmes for shelter residents, and expanding mental health treatment. It also criticises Council member Nithya Raman’s pledge to halve homelessness by the Olympics as an extension of Bass’s approach.
In short
- LA’s $72 million project provides 111 rooms in a converted motel.
- The article puts the cost at about $650,000 per unit.
- It calls for enforcement, sobriety programmes and mental health treatment.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters could argue that converting a motel into 111 homes provides immediate, stable accommodation for people who might otherwise remain on the streets, and that Housing First makes it easier to address health and other needs once people are housed. The project’s cost may reflect Los Angeles property and construction costs, while judging progress by one facility overlooks the value of preventing further harm and building capacity over time.
The case against
Critics could argue that a $72 million project serving 111 people is costly relative to its reach, and that celebrating it risks obscuring whether city policy is reducing homelessness overall. They may favour pairing housing with treatment and sobriety support where appropriate, enforcing public-space rules, and scrutinising service providers to ensure spending produces measurable results.
Explained simply
Los Angeles has a large population of people without stable housing, and city leaders have tried different ways to provide shelter and longer-term homes. Karen Bass, the city’s mayor, has supported “Housing First”: helping people move into housing without making sobriety or treatment a condition.
The project in the story is a former Motel 6 converted into 111 homes. Its cost and scale have prompted debate about how far public money can go in tackling homelessness, and how results should be measured.
Bass and other local officials, including council member Nithya Raman, face questions about what combination of housing, support services, treatment and enforcement can reduce homelessness. The debate matters as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics and sets targets for progress before then.