The Downtown Los Angeles Homeless Map illustrates the sad homeless situation in LA. The map – actually it’s a time-series of four maps last updated on 12/15/06 – was produced and is maintained by LA-based cartography company Cartifact. From the site:

Downtown Los Angeles is the epicenter of the largest homeless population in the United States. The Downtown Los Angeles Homeless Map takes raw data about those sleeping on the streets and transforms it into a visual tool for understanding the situation.

The purpose of the downtown Los Angeles Homeless Map is to visually tell the story of downtown’s homeless population. Before a problem can be solved it must be understood. These maps exist to convey the situation on the streets to City leaders, the Police Department and all those who are concerned with homelessness in our city.