Los Angeles: The Golden City in Decline

Modern LA - image by Grok

Once the beacon of glamour, opportunity, and endless sunshine, Los Angeles has increasingly come to symbolize urban dysfunction. Parts of the city—particularly downtown and areas like Skid Row—the landscape resembles a dystopian wasteland: abandoned skyscrapers towering with layer upon layer of graffiti, sprawling homeless encampments choking sidewalks, open drug use in plain view, human feces littering the streets, and nearly every square inch of surface—walls, signs, freeways, and buildings—defaced by gang tags or vandalism. These scenes, far from isolated anomalies, define swaths of the city for residents and visitors alike, eroding the once-golden image of the City of Angels.

Photos of Oceanwide Plaza Towers - abandoned and filled with grafitti.

Urban Blight and Visible Decay

High-profile symbols like the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza towers in downtown LA—once a billion-dollar project, now a graffiti-covered eyesore persisting into 2025–2026—exemplify stalled development and unchecked vandalism. Pervasive tagging costs the city millions annually in cleanup, while areas like Skid Row remain epicenters of open-air drug markets and sanitation crises, with reports of ongoing encampments and related health hazards through late 2025.

Photos of LA's Skid Row

Crime Trends: Progress on Paper, Fear on the Streets

While State sponsored surveys in 2025 marked dramatic declines in major crimes—homicides dropped 19% to 230 (the lowest since 1966), robberies fell sharply, and overall incidents decreased by over 22,000 compared to 2024—these statistics mask persistent quality-of-life issues. The DoJ has suggested that the statistical improvements are the result of manipulated crime reporting. Visible disorder, including theft-driven retail closures and open drug activity, continues to fuel perceptions of lawlessness, even as violent crime reaches historic lows.

Sky-High Costs and Taxes Driving Exodus

The exorbitant cost of living—coupled with California's highest-in-nation taxes—continues to push residents and businesses out. Outmigration remains severe, with LA County losing tens of thousands annually amid stalled population growth.

Businesses Fleeing, Stores Shuttering

Corporate departures and widespread retail closures—often blamed on theft, high costs, and regulatory burdens—have hollowed out commercial areas, turning vibrant districts into vacant storefronts.

Fiscal Strain and Budget Deficits

Chronic shortfalls, reaching hundreds of millions in recent years, force service cuts and highlight unsustainable spending amid declining revenues. The city of Los Angeles is facing a $1 billion budget deficit for 2025-2026. This does not even take into account the unfunded pension liability for the City's thousands of pensioners.

Enduring Homelessness Crisis

Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass often point to the statistics that show that there have been modest declines in the 2025 homeless count. They claim a 9% reduction after spending $24 billion of mostly federal funding to address the problem. Ironically, they are unable to provide a detailed count or census of the current homeless population today, which has taxpayers wondering how they arrived at the calculated reductions. Best estimates are that the homeless population in LA County is over 72,000. A 9% reduction suggests that for $24 billion we reduced the population by less than 8,000 people in Los Angeles. That equates to a cost of approximately $1.2 million per homeless person removed from the streets. In spite of the claimed reduction in homeless population analysis of aerial images suggests that the area occupied by homeless encampments has not shrunk and in many locations it has grown; with visible encampments and associated issues dominating numerous neighborhoods.

A City in Peril

Los Angeles stands at a crossroads. The dystopian visuals of decay, disorder, and despair in core areas threaten to define its future. Without decisive action on costs, regulation, and street-level crises, the Golden City's shine may fade irretrievably. The world will soon turn its gaze toward Los Angeles as global events such as the World Cup (2026)and the Olympics (2028) return to Los Angeles--is this what we want the world to see?

Sources:

Crime Rates

• Council on Criminal Justice: Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2025 Update Detailed report on declining violent and property crimes in major cities, including Los Angeles' historic low homicide rate. (Published: Jan 21, 2026) Link

• Los Angeles Daily News: Los Angeles saw fewer homicides in 2025 than any year since 1966 Coverage of LAPD's 2025 crime stats showing a 19% drop in homicides. (Published: Jan 29, 2026) Link

• NBC Los Angeles: Los Angeles' homicide rate falls to lowest since 1950s LAPD annual review highlighting an 8% decrease in shooting victims. (Published: Jan 29, 2026) Link

Cost of Living and Expenses

• Extra Space Storage: Average Cost of Living in Los Angeles, CA in 2026 Breakdown showing LA's cost of living 49.7% above national average, with housing as the main driver. (Published: Nov 10, 2025) Link

• Numbeo: Cost of Living in Los Angeles, California. Feb 2026 Monthly estimates: $5,068 for a family of four (excluding rent); $1,393 for a single person. Link

• Amber: Cost of Living in Los Angeles, California: 2026 Guide Detailed guide with averages for rent ($1,708–$3,016), utilities, and groceries. (Published: Jan 19, 2026) Link

Taxes

• SmartAsset: 2026 Cost of Living in California Overview of high state taxes, including LA's sales tax up to 9.5% and impact on residents. Link

• KLW Law: Why Are Major Companies Leaving California? Discussion of California's 8.84% corporate tax and 13.3% personal income tax as drivers of exodus. (Published: Oct 3, 2025) Link

Businesses Leaving

• Fox News: Tax fight puts California on collision course as billionaires leave for red states Coverage of high taxes and regulations prompting business relocations. (Published: Jan 14, 2026) Link

• Public Policy Institute of California: Experts Answer: Are Headquarters Really Fleeing California? Analysis showing net loss of 789 headquarters from 2011–2021, with tax burdens as a factor. (Published: Jul 1, 2025) Link

• The Real Deal: Companies Left California in 2025; Next Year Could Be Worse List of departures citing taxes, regulations, and costs. (Published: Dec 31, 2025) Link

Store Closures

• KTLA: Major retailer announces store closures in California Details on Container Store and others closing in Southern California. (Published: Jan 21, 2026) Link

• Patch: 17 Retailers Closed Hundreds Of CA Stores In 2025: See The List Comprehensive list including Kohl's, Macy's, and Walgreens. (Published: Dec 29, 2025) Link

• CBS News: These national and regional retailers went out of business in 2025 Overview of over 8,100 U.S. closures, with heavy impact in California. (Published: Dec 31, 2025) Link

Outmigration

• The Malibu Times: California exodus continues in 2025 Net loss of 216,000 residents, with LA leading outflows. (Published: Jan 18, 2026) Link

• FOX 11: California exodus: People relocated to these states the most in 2025 U-Haul data showing California leading in out-migration for sixth year. (Published: Jan 9, 2026) Link

• Public Policy Institute of California: Who's Leaving California—and Who's Moving In? Analysis of 10 million out-migrants from 2010–2024, driven by costs. (Published: Jan 21, 2026) Link

Budget Deficit

• GHNNC: City Council Approves Plan to Cut $263M Budget Gap Details on mid-year adjustments to LA's 2025–26 deficit. (Published: Nov 13, 2025) Link

• FOX 11: LA's $1B deficit closed, Mayor Bass signs agreement protecting city workers from layoffs Coverage of closing the $1B gap through union deals. (Published: Sep 23, 2025) Link

• CalMatters: If California bails out LA's $1 billion budget deficit, beware the slippery slope Opinion on state bailout risks for LA's deficit. (Published: Mar 28, 2025) Link

Homelessness

• LAHSA: Declining Homelessness Is Now A Trend In Los Angeles County Official 2025 count showing 4% decline to 72,308. (Published: Jul 14, 2025) Link

• Governor's Office: California sees drop in unsheltered homelessness Statewide 9% drop in unsheltered homelessness. (Published: Jan 8, 2026) Link

• USC Today: L.A. homelessness drops for 2nd year: 4 takeaways from the count Analysis of 9.5% unsheltered drop in LA County. (Published: Jul 23, 2025)