A homeless encampment, with pickleball court and garden, becomes both refuge and scourge

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Forced from his residence in an old Victorian house to make way for a redevelopment, Tim Gilbert said he was wandering Koreatown in November looking for a place to live when he ducked through a hole in a fence into a vacant lot and found himself alone.He set up camp, and as other followed suit, began to build a little community: Toward one corner of the 15,000-square foot lot, Gilbert erected a pickleball net he said he found near Wilshire Boulevard.Behind the net, where people volley from time to time, is a small garden of tomatoes, cannabis and onions that he tends to.

There are at least two barbecues, one propane, one charcoal.“When you are kind of going through something that is a rough time, you look for ways to keep your spirits up,” Gilbert said.The encampment is one of the thousands in Los Angeles that are both ephemeral refuges from the dangers of sleeping alone and a constant frustration for the people nearby who pay rent and mortgages and want their neighborhoods clean.

The little extra pleasures on Manhattan Place make it unique — the green grass that comes with winter rains, grilling hamburgers, recreational sport.Neighbors lodged complaints about the encampment, including concerns over fires after encampment residents appeared to have broken into a street light and attached an extension cords to receive power.Others cited drug sales and concerns over personal safety.Adalberto Aguirre, 72, lives across the street in a building he has called home for 34 years and said residents of the encampment constantly yell and fight at night, making it difficult to sleep.Sometimes, he said, the occupants will shout at him and other neighbors unprovoked.“It’s terrible,” Aguirre said.Another neighbor, Christine Pak, 30, said there’s constant broken glass on the sidewalk in front of the encampment, making it dangerous to walk her dog.After the sun sets, she said she ...