Down By the River, Minus the Van

I've noticed a campsite - tent, stove, bicycles, boxes and belongings - below the Fletcher Street bridge along the west bank of the Los Angeles River. And I've seen a weathered woman crouching along a sliver of land below Atwater Village's pedestrian bridge. Little did I know they've nearly formed their own city council district. From the Los Angeles Times (via KTLA): They are among a dozen or so drifters and homeless people who live on the small islands that sprout from the undergrowth along the mostly concrete-lined riverbed near downtown... "It's just life down here like anywhere else," says [Robin] Country, who has lived on the island near Atwater Village on and off for the last seven years... Country says no matter how much care the city takes in removing them from the river, they'll still be out of a home. "It scares the hell out of me to go back up there," he says, referring to the streets... Los Angeles police recently launched a river patrol, dispatching officers on bike and foot to monitor the segment of the channel from the Pasadena Freeway to Los Feliz Boulevard. [Photo from Los Angeles Times]