Beautification takes place after encampment cleanup by city officials
By Nick Antonicello
VENICE – After years of crime, encampments and a quality-of-life that was compromised, the conditions at Flower Avenue here in Venice are changing for the better.
Neighbors and residents have started the process of beautification with planters that will erase the problems of the past as what was once an embedded encampment is now being transformed back to a place the best represents a clean and thriving neighborhood.
Things began to change earlier this year when city officials accelerated the cleanup process when LA Mayor Karen Bass with the cooperation of Councilwoman Traci Park (CD-11) enacted a citywide state of emergency that saw several encampments here in Venice cleaned and cleared on Flower, Hampton and Third that resulted in the removal of some 150 or so individuals from the streets into inside living accommodations, the first major attempt to seriously address the homeless situation in some time.
This transformation from blight to beauty is a lesson to all of us that good things can happen and change is indeed possible.
A “shout out” to Venice Community Officer Clark Brown for providing the images and photos at Flower.
Nick Antonicello is a longtime Venetian who covers the issue of homelessness here in Venice. A member of the Outreach & Oceanfront Committees of the Venice Neighborhood Council, Antonicello can be reached via e-mail at nantoni@mindspring.com
