Los Angeles struggles to house homeless amid Section 8 shortage

Mar 27, 2018
The U.S. homeless population ticked up last year for the first time since 2010, led by a 26 percent percent surge in Los Angeles.
Trash lies beside the Skid Row City Limit mural as the city begins its annual homeless count in Los Angeles, California on Jan. 26, 2018.
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

LA County libraries go fine-free for their younger readers

Jan 8, 2018
Officials say when young readers rack up fines, the likelihood they'll use their card again, or return to the library, diminishes.
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RVs are becoming an alternative to high rents in LA

Dec 19, 2017
As rents rise in the city, some people seek out cheaper alternatives like RVs.
This once-inhabited RV sits on a tow lot in South Los Angeles. If no one claims it, it'll go up for sale. L.A. officials say increasingly, investors buy up RV's like this and rent them out to people who have trouble finding affordable housing. 
Rina Palta/ for Marketplace

Predicting the technology of the future for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles

Nov 20, 2017
Some of the tech that will be used in Los Angeles may not have even been invented yet.
 A general view of the Olympic Rings in front of the Bolshoy Ice Dome prior to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in the Olympic Park Coastal Cluster on February 1, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

Food halls: the ritzier, foodier cousin of the suburban mall food court

Nov 9, 2017
Food halls are proliferating in cities big and small.

How an LA community is fighting back against gentrification

Sep 28, 2017
Eastside Café, a treasured El Sereno center, stopped its building's sale with a bid of its own.
The Eastside Café in Los Angeles doesn't sell coffee yet, but it's hosted community events and classes for 15 years.
Aaron Schrank/Marketplace

In Los Angeles, mariachi musicians fight gentrification to keep tradition alive

Sep 15, 2017
In the Boyle Heights neighborhood of LA, mariachis struggle to pay rent near a plaza named for them.
Mariachi Plaza and the larger Boyle Heights neighborhood have become the focal point for gentrification in Los Angeles. 
Katherine Garrova/ for Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

This Los Angeles incubator wants to jumpstart the green economy

Sep 15, 2017
At the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, companies have access to mentors and laser cutters, too.
LA Cleantech Incubator's Advanced Prototyping Center.
Robert Garrova/Marketplace

To cool down city streets, Los Angeles is painting them gray

Aug 24, 2017
Los Angeles is testing out cool pavements on about a dozen blocks around the city.
A stretch of Coronado St. in Los Angeles is one of 15 blocks that is piloting a cool pavement.
Jed Kim/Marketplace

For people with disabilities, the unemployment rate is still pretty high

Jul 24, 2017
For people with disabilities, finding a job can be a difficult journey.
Linda Wright (C), 57, attends a job conference for unemployed people with disabilities at Manchester Community College in Manchester, Connecticut.
Christopher Capozziello/Getty Images