美国国家公共电台 NPR Amid Homelessness Crisis, Los Angeles Restricts Living In Vehicles

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Around the country, cities with big homeless populations have passed laws banning things like panhandling or sleeping in public areas. Here in Los Angeles, officials are cracking down on people living in vehicles. But as Anna Scott from member station KCRW reports, the rules create their own problems.

ANNA SCOTT, BYLINE¹: It's not unusual in LA to come across clusters of motor homes, like on this big commercial street in North Hollywood.

EDITH GRAYS: This area right here, thank God they're not following the signs. It's only for two-hour parking, but they're not bothering us right now.

SCOTT: Edith Grays is one of nearly 10,000 people who live in vehicles inside LA city limits. Some live in cars, others in vans, but campers and RVs are the most visible and the hardest to park. Grays and her husband ran a window-washing business until her husband had several strokes and couldn't work.

GRAYS: That put us where we couldn't make rent, so we bought the motor home.

SCOTT: But it's been tough. LA's City Council recently reinstated a ban on sleeping in vehicles overnight in residential² areas. The rules also forbid living in vehicles within a block of a park or a school. I asked Grays how much of her time is spent looking for parking.

GRAYS: All of it, and it's very difficult. It causes a lot of stress in my life. Today the parking people went by. They looked at us because we're only supposed to be here for three days. But where do you move to?

WALTER HALL: Within the last couple of years, we started to have campers and mobile homes parked along Coldwater here.

SCOTT: Walter Hall owns a home near Coldwater Canyon³ Avenue, close to where the Grays are parked. He says vehicle encampments have caused parking shortages and sanitation⁴ issues.

HALL: Garbage and public urination - that's the type of thing that we really would prefer not to see.

SCOTT: Hall supports the city's rules, even though they aren't strictly⁵ enforced and mostly just shuffle⁶ people around.

HALL: You know, this type of thing is described as a whack-a-mole. They disappear one place only to reappear someplace else.

SCOTT: One thing that could help is safe parking; that is, lots designated for overnight camping with security and port-a-potties. LA only has about 100 safe parking spots for more than 5,000 vehicles, a tiny fraction of the need. Officials have promised to expand that, but in the meantime, critics say having strict parking rules is inhumane.

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MEL TILLEKERATNE: This is a stupid law. This law, if passed, is going to directly contribute to these people being on the street.

ERIKA FERESTEN: Several of the families at my children's elementary school are struggling with homelessness, and it's unconscionable that they would be criminalized.

SCOTT: Erika Feresten and Mel Tillekeratne were two of dozens who showed up at City Hall recently when the parking rules came up for renewal⁷. Laws restricting living in vehicles are on the rise around the country, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. And when LA's City Council voted 13-to-0 to extend its version, protesters temporarily shut down the meeting.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on you.

SCOTT: During a break, council member Marqueece Harris-Dawson said he agrees that the city's small safe parking program and widespread restrictions⁸ aren't a sufficient solution.

MARQUEECE HARRIS-DAWSON: Of course it's inappropriate. It's inappropriate to have 30,000 people living on the street. I mean, I agree. But the city needs just time to get ahead of this problem.

SCOTT: The city council will take up the parking rules again early next year.

For NPR News, I'm Anna Scott in Los Angeles.

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1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

3 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

4 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

5 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

6 shuffle   

n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走

参考例句：

• I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
• Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。

7 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制