Case study LA: It's dangerous when cities (like Silicon Valley's) ignore n'hood concerns about squatters

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An abandoned construction site in LA’s Chinatown attracted a small group of squatters who proceeded to light it on fire—four times, this year alone. Neighbors begged the city for help, which, to the city’s credit, finally came. Early one morning, 130 firefighters responded when a conflagration spread to an apartment building. Karen Garcia of the LA Times reports.

Six people were injured by the fire, including a 90-year-old man who was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition. A woman, 55, was taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening burn injury. Two others were assessed for injuries but declined transportation to the hospital.

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The unfinished building at the construction site had been abandoned since the end of 2022, according to nearby resident Katie Antonsson, who used to work for the Los Angeles Times as an audience analyst. The following year, neighbors started reaching out to Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez’s office to voice concerns about half a dozen squatters living there, Antonsson said.

This year there have been four small fires at the construction site, Antonsson said.

In July, the Los Angeles Police Department told her that because she isn’t the property owner, she has no say over who can and cannot be on the property, so they could not assist her. Instead, she said, the department recommended she file a report with the city Building and Safety Department.

Antonsson filed a report two months ago, and hasn’t gotten a response.

Read the whole thing here.

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Go Deeper:

• The Squatter and the Con

• Perspective: CA law has got to stop conflating tenants with squatters

• San Francisco realizes letting people steal homes might not be a good idea

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