If you're homeless and you want to get off the streets, you'll probably take just about whatever you can get: If someone offered you a converted shipping container with a clean bed, an air conditioning unit, and access to running water, well, that would be astronomically better than living in a cardboard box—and moreover, it'd be cheap to arrange.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, thinks it needs to drop nearly a million dollars to get the job done:
A Los Angeles audit finds that a $1.2 billion program intended to quickly build housing for the city's homeless residents is moving too slowly, and costs are climbing.
The report from city Controller Ron Galperin found one project under development is expected to hit as much as $837,000 for each unit. Galperin called the price tag staggering.
Okay, "Los Angeles can't build simple, decent housing for homeless people without dropping a millo on each bed" is just a great enough story as it is.
But wait!
In a tweet, Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti appears to dispute any suggestion that the program – formally known as Proposition HHH – is off track.
Garcetti says the program "is producing more units than promised, at a lower cost than expected."
At a lower cost than expected???
You mean to tell me that these housing units were originally projected to cost more than $837,000???
