Gentrifying neighborhoods are seeing the influx of new companies and residents as developers create new offices and  apartments in the Art District in Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Mid Market San Francisco, and the Mission District in San Francisco.  Rents are rising rapidly in those neighborhoods.  Many of the existing residents in these areas are protected by rent control.  On the contrary, those that are not protected are seeing their rents spike.

At the same time, these gentrifying areas are also seeing an increase in the homeless population.  This is a result of a combination of  early release from prisons, rising rents, stagnant wages, warm weather, and  new construction disrupting former homeless hangouts.  Locals and activists are calling for more aid, rent control, and less enforcement of homeless encampment laws.  Both activists and the real estate community agree that part of the solution is developing more affordable housing.

New residents and workers are encountering more homeless encampments.  The solution remains elusive.  Even in Venice, a mature neighborhood way down the gentrification road– where homes sell for over $1,000 per square foot– struggles for answers to this social issue.

The article below discusses the clash of new technology companies with lower income and homeless residents in the mid market neighborhood of San Francisco.

Blending Tech Workers and Locals in San Francisco’s Troubled Mid-Market – The New York Times.