The views from the bike path at Lake Balboa Park aren't what those who live in the area expected. A person doesn't have to look very far to find those who call Lake Balboa streets home.
The bike path, which is filled with mounds of garbage, is not necessarily a homeless encampment, but the accumulating trash isn't a welcome sight for residents.
"I don't like it, and I think it can spread disease. It's all over the place back here," a Lake Balboa resident said.
A homeless man named Charlie has been on the streets for a long time. He has been to prison and has lost his mother, but even he agrees that the city lags when it comes to cleaning up the streets.
Charlie was talking about cleaning up the piles of trash that litter the landscape across the city.
At Lake Balboa Park, neighbors alerted Streets of Shame to a row of shopping carts that lined the street. A total of 32 shopping carts were counted and were piled high with filth. Even though most people have become familiar with seeing piled up belongings from homeless people, even Charlie said "These aren't belongings."
When contacting the city's 311 line, an operator said the Department of Sanitation has known about the mess for nearly two weeks. When reaching out to LA's Bureau of Sanitation, a representative claimed to be dealing with a backlog of calls for months. And still no certainty is given as to when the streets will be cleaned.
Some members in the community have lost hope and believe their calls to the city do not matter, even if the city does eventually decide to clean up the street.
"Within a very short time, it's all back again," a Balboa Resident said.
