The Brief

If you live in the San Fernando Valley, you probably see a lot of myrtles. If you’re in Westwood, there’s magnolias. Leimert Park? Mexican fan palms.

“It's a different L.A. depending on where you are and what's planted on your street,” says Matt Stiles, a data and graphics editor for CNN.

For Stiles, the L.A. he sees is full of jacarandas — because he’s made a hobby of it.

This year, Stiles created and released an interactive map of where to find jacaranda trees in L.A. County. Jacarandas are one of the unique trees that make L.A. a masterpiece, he said.

“They’re one of the little insider things…We’re all spread out, but we know and experience them collectively,” Stiles said.

But, surprisingly, Stiles has never really been a big fan of purple. He said he mostly enjoys the jacarandas as a sign of the changing season, like the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. What draws the Westside resident to mapping out the whereabouts of one of L.A.’s signature trees is his love for the city.

“I'm a little bit obsessed with street trees in L.A. because there's just so much diversity of trees, and because your perception of L.A. and what it looks like really comes [from] inside your car for a lot of people,” Stiles said.

The jacaranda trees map covers most of L.A. county, marking the trees with purple dots.

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jacarandamap.com

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Matt Stiles

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Stiles spent a few years collecting data from tree inventories from various cities, which document new trees that come in and trees that are removed. If you look at the map, it is dotted with purples. The empty pockets are the cities where Stiles had trouble accessing their records.

In late May, Stiles said he decided to spend a couple of days compiling all of this data into the map in time for the jacaranda trees to bloom in June.

“It's just something I was doing in my free time,” Stiles said. “I would love to do, over the next months, a full scrub of the data, and to really try to update it, so that next year it's even more current.”

Stiles said he chose jacarandas above all the other city trees to have its own map because of the passion Angelenos have for them. Native to Brazil, the jacaranda was brought to Southern California in the late 19th century and popularized by horticulturalist Kate Sessions. According to the Los Angeles Public Library, lots of jacaranda trees were planted in the 1950s and 60s as part of a city-wide beautification effort.

With the map, users can search by an address or zoom in on a neighborhood to find jacaranda clusters to visit.

Jacarandas have become a topic of conversation for Stiles and his family every time they’re in the car now.

“That’s been kind of fun to watch my children interact with something I’ve built for the first time,” Stiles said.

Like when you buy a certain car model and start to see it everywhere, Stiles said he’s noticing the jacarandas more this year, after all the time and effort he invested in the map.

“It's a very L.A. experience to see the purple blooms in June, right?” said Stiles.

Topline:

Among the standouts:

Outstanding bakery: Gusto Bread (Long Beach), a three-time nominee

Emerging chef: Fátima Juárez of Komal (Mercado La Paloma) and José Olmedo Carles Rojas of Si! Mon (Venice)

Outstanding chef: Niki Nakayama from n/naka (Palms) and Gilberto Cetina from Holbox (Mercado La Paloma)

Outstanding restaurant: Antico Nuovo (Larchmont)

Best new restaurant: Ki (Little Tokyo) and RVR (Venice)

Best Chef: California

• Dave Beran, Seline (Santa Monica)

• Brian Dunsmoor, Dunsmoor (Glassell Park)

• Sarah Hymanson and Sara Kramer, Kismet (Los Feliz)

• Andrew Muñoz and Michelle Muñoz, Moo's Craft Barbecue (Lincoln Heights)

• Charles Namba, Camélia (Arts District)
  
• Kwang Uh, Baroo (DTLA)

Why it matters: The James Beard Awards are widely considered the Oscars of the food world, and nominations can significantly boost a restaurant's profile and business. Southern California's strong showing — particularly in the best chef: California category with six nominees — reflects the region's evolving culinary landscape, extending beyond fine dining to include craft molinos, barbecue joints and neighborhood bakeries.

What's next: The finalists will be chosen March 31, and the ultimate winners will be announced at a ceremony in Chicago on June 15.

Thousands of volunteers are out on streets and sidewalks this week tallying people, tents, vehicles and shelters as part of the annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.

The yearly count of the local unhoused population has become increasingly consequential and controversial in Los Angeles County. The area is home to the largest unhoused population in the U.S., estimated at more than 72,000 last year.

But it’s also one of the few places where homeless population estimates are shrinking. For the past two years, homelessness declined slightly in both the city and county of Los Angeles — even as homelessness surged 18% nationally in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Whether that trend will continue is far from certain. This year's count comes amid a major transition period for L.A.’s homelessness response system. Serious funding shortfalls threaten homeless services across the region.

Meanwhile, questions are mounting about whether the count itself can be trusted, with some local officials openly expressing doubts about its accuracy and usefulness.

The 2026 results are expected to be released in late spring or early summer.

Here are five key facts about the L.A. homeless count this year:

1. Stakes are high 

Last year's count found homelessness dropped for a second consecutive year, down 3.4% in the city of Los Angeles and 4% countywide. Local officials touted those results as evidence the region’s investments in shelter and homeless services were paying off, after years of increasing homelessness.

At an event in July, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass took credit for the numbers going down.

“ For the first time in our city's recent history, homelessness has gone down two years in a row,” Bass said. “ This lasting change was only possible because we chose to act with urgency and reject the status quo.”

Now, local homelessness officials warn the L.A. region’s unhoused population may be growing again, as some state and local funding for homeless services and housing is disappearing.

The L.A. region’s lead homeless agency, known as LAHSA, is responsible for conducting the count. At an event Tuesday, LAHSA’s interim CEO Gita O’Neill said this year’s homeless count comes at a pivotal time.

“Across Los Angeles, the homeless services system is undergoing major changes, from funding shifts and program transitions to the way outreach, shelter, and housing are delivered,” O’Neill said. “Those changes, combined with ongoing economic pressures, may put the progress we’ve made over the last couple of years at risk.”

Thousands of Angelenos are set to lose federal housing vouchers this year as pandemic era emergency grant funding expires. A large number of homeless services and programs are facing cuts, because of shortfalls in state, county and city budgets.

Officials and service providers say this year’s count will be crucial for understanding the impacts of cuts.

“This year’s homeless count is more important than ever,” said Amber Sheikh, chair of the LAHSA Commission. “With looming funding cuts at all levels of government, this will give us critically needed data to allow us to advocate effectively.”

There's also a new concern this year: Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez's office said heightened activity by federal immigration enforcement officers might add challenges, if more people meant to be counted are laying low.

“Regardless of what the topline numbers show, the urgency remains the same,” a spokesperson for Hernandez told LAist. "We need sustained investments in permanent housing, tenant protections, and mental health care to actually reduce homelessness over time."

Gita O’Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA, speaks ahead of the annual homeless count on Jan. 20, 2026.

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Jordan Rynning

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LAist

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2. Regional homelessness agency faces scrutiny, reduced funding

In addition to conducting the count, LAHSA has been responsible for administering most homeless service programs across the region, but that’s in flux.

Recent audits and reports found LAHSA mismanaged funds and failed to collect accurate data on its vendors or properly hold them accountable for providing services.

Last April, L.A. County leaders redirected more than $300 million in funding away from LAHSA and formed a new county homelessness department to oversee the funding itself. The county’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing launched Jan. 1.

LAHSA will continue conducting the annual count with a reduced budget. The agency’s former CEO once warned those funding declines could jeopardize this year’s count.

“ Our team is working to reduce costs for next year's count given this situation,” Va Lecia Adams Kellum said last May. “But even with cost saving adjustments, we anticipate that the current allocations will not provide enough funding for LAHSA to conduct an unsheltered count in 2026.”

The proposed L.A. County homelessness budget for next fiscal year includes $2.3 million for the Homeless Count.

3. Count determines Measure A funding for cities

This year's count will help determine how much money each of Los Angeles County's 88 cities receives from Measure A, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax expected to generate about $1 billion annually for homeless services and affordable housing.

About $96 million from Measure A goes into a Local Solutions Fund divided among all cities. The funding formula is based 90% on each city's homeless count results from the past two years and 10% on the number of extremely low-income households.

That means the homeless count now affects city budgets in a way it never has before.

Based on its unhoused population estimates, the city of Los Angeles got roughly $55 million in the current budget year, 57% of the entire local fund. Smaller cities with fewer unhoused residents are getting far less. Ranchos Palos Verdes is allocated about $38,000 and Manhattan Beach $41,000.

Some cities have argued the funding formula is unfair and should be more proportional to a municipality’s tax contributions.

The mayor of Torrance told LAist that the city expects to generate about $26 million annually through the Measure A sales tax and received about $559,000 in local funding. There were 355 unhoused people living in Torrance in February, according to last year’s official estimate.

Kristina Ross navigates for her team of volunteers during LAHSA's annual homeless count on Jan. 20, 2026.

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Jordan Rynning

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LAist

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4. Organizers made some technology updates

LAHSA has made several changes to this year's count following volunteer complaints about the mobile app, which has been plagued by glitches since its introduction in 2023.

“The app as it has been particularly glitchy over the years,” a spokesperson for L.A. City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield told LAist. “We tend to always do a paper count, as well as count through the app, just in case there are any discrepancies.”

For the 2026 count, LAHSA says it has simplified volunteer training, created improved maps in partnership with community stakeholders and assigned more staff to provide technical support at deployment sites.

The agency is also coordinating with county health services and emergency response teams to better count hard-to-reach areas like river embankments, deserts and parks. For example, the Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley is counted during a specialized daytime operation.

5. Concerns about the annual count’s accuracy

Even with improvements, some remain skeptical about the count's accuracy and usefulness.

L.A. City Councilmember John Lee told LAist the count “falls short of accurately portraying the situation on our city streets” and cautioned against “relying too heavily on a single annual snapshot that may not reflect day-to-day reality.”

“Rather than focusing on a single set of numbers once a year, we should be working year-round to gather consistent data that tracks outcomes like housing placements, retention, and system capacity," Lee said. “That kind of information would be far more valuable in evaluating what's actually working.”

A RAND Corporation analysis released in October found that the annual LAHSA tally has been increasingly inaccurate in recent years. RAND found LAHSA undercounted more than 30% of the population in Skid Row, Hollywood and Venice last year. The analysis was based on RAND’s own professional counts of those neighborhoods.

An LAist investigation last year found that LAHSA used inconsistent data processing methods, without clear documentation or written policies. This led to volunteer app observations being excluded from the data at a higher rate than the year before — and at a higher rate within L.A. city limits than in the rest of the county.

“There have been results in prior years that didn't make sense,” Blumenfield’s spokesperson said, referencing a recent example when count results showed way more RVs in a Reseda corridor than the office’s staff had observed during regular outreach.

Several representatives from smaller cities said they don’t rely solely on the count to understand the crisis on their sidewalks and streets. Santa Clarita officials called the count “one of the many tools used to guide local and regional responses to homelessness.”

Metro’s Board of Directors is set to vote Thursday on a $2.7 billion project that would extend light rail farther into the South Bay.

The Board will also consider a competing proposal that takes a different route for the extension than the one staff for the countywide transportation agency recommended and studied extensively.

Three members of Metro’s Board formally asked their colleagues to approve the alternate route Friday, less than a week before the meeting.

Some transit advocates have warned that approving the last-minute motion, which would make the project more expensive and more difficult to construct, could set the extension back years.

“All of a sudden, we have this alternative motion out of left field that did not come out of a committee process,” Scott Epstein, policy and research director of Abundant Housing L.A., said to LAist. “This is really concerning. I urge the Metro Board to return to common sense and stay the course on a high-quality project.”

The news of the motion inspired the opposite feeling in Chelsea Schreiber, who founded a group that’s in favor of the alternate route for which the motion advocates.

“I fell to my knees and cried when I read it,” Schreiber, a Lawndale resident, said to LAist.

The background

The goal of the extension as a whole is to improve connectivity between the South Bay and greater transit network. Metro staff said in a report to its Board that the extension would expand access to jobs, housing, and education.

Before any shovels hit the ground with regional transit projects, Metro studies several routes, collects public input and conducts technical analyses. Based on their work, agency staff then approach the board with their recommendation for the route they believe best serves the project’s goals.

In this case, staff recommended in 2024 a route that would operate on tracks already owned by the agency and includes stations at transit hubs in Redondo Beach and Torrance. In May the same year, Metro’s Board voted in favor of the recommendation and directed agency staff to focus on that route for further analysis.

The dueling route

Before last Friday, the Board was primed to approve those additional studies for the staff-recommended route and advance the project to its design and pre-construction phase.

L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose district represents some of the project area, and her Metro Board colleagues, Tim Sandoval and Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, don’t want to see that happen.

Instead, according to the motion they introduced, Mitchell and her colleagues want the Board to further a different alignment for the extension that would have the train run along Hawthorne Boulevard, a major commercial corridor.

Their motion shares the concerns of the chief advocacy group in favor of the Hawthorne route, the South Bay Environmental Justice Alliance.

That group, which was founded by Schreiber, claims the staff-recommended route runs too close to homes and would eliminate green space. The group says pollution and noise associated with construction would negatively affect local residents.

The cities of Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach have also expressed support for the Hawthorne route whereas the city of Torrance has advocated for the Metro staff-recommended route.

In a statement, Mitchell told LAist she fully supports expanding transit access in the South Bay and thinks the Hawthorne option is the best way to do that “without having to make trade-offs on the safety and quality of life communities.”

Metro staff disagree. According to a report to the Metro board, agency staff determined the Hawthorne alignment wouldn’t provide the same access to local transit, would require additional environmental clearance and cost $737 million more than the route it recommended.

Metro staff also also put forward a suite of mitigation measures, including sound walls, sidewalks and bike paths, to assuage concerns over the route it recommended.

Metro’s board will vote on both proposals Thursday.

It’ll also consider selecting a route for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor for further study. That project would create a rail connection between the Valley and Westside.

At home, I'm in charge of making dinner. Most nights it's the usual rotation of staples that I know my small children will actually eat. I’ve got a routine in the kitchen, prepping vegetables in advance, batch cooking proteins, but some days, there’s just too much to do. You have to finish up a project for work, then you’ve gotta straighten up the house, then pick up the kids, and you didn’t get a chance to make dinner! That’s why I’m always grateful that there are restaurants out there that help feed our families in a pinch and on a budget.

On nights when I’m not cooking, you can call me “the King of the Family Meal Deal.” You can find me waltzing around the Costco food court looking for a large $9.95 pizza, or scouring the weekly supermarket circulars for El Pollo Loco coupons. I’m meticulously watching the instagram reels of local food influencers looking for leads. I’m always on the hunt for ways to expand the to-go options to feed four to six people for under $60.

I’ve searched far and wide and found a variety of tasty bargain takeout solutions from throughout Southern California. Here's a list of places that can affordably cater tonight’s dinner (with a few leftovers for tomorrow).

Chio's Peruvian (Van Nuys)

Pollo a la brasa at Chio's Peruvian

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Courtesy Chio's Peruvian

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From time to time, my parents will bring over food from Chio’s Peruvian. They have all the classic Peruvian menu items like lomo saltado, arroz chaufa and tallarines verdes but the sweet spot for a great family meal deal is their Pollo a La Brasa. You can get the Pollo Entero Con Dos Combinaciones meal, which includes a whole chicken with two sides for $29.99. Side dishes include white bean frijoles peruanos, rice, salad, french fries and platanos. Sometimes they’ll have the same deal where you get twice as much food plus a 2-liter bottle of Inca Kola (or Diet Coke) for a little under $60.

Pita Pitaki (Long Beach)

This authentic Greek city of Long Beach recommendation comes from LAist food and culture writer Gab Chabrán, who has fed his family with Pita Pitaki’s signature Pitaki Apola special. This combination gets you either chicken, pork or lamb gyro meat, two chicken skewers, two pork skewers, potatoes, tzatziki, Greek salad, and pita for only $37. If you feel the need for nearly a kilo of gyro, you can get the Family Gyro Meat Special for $54.99.

Chicken Maison (11 locations in the South Bay and Orange County)

Chicken Maison has locations across SoCal

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Courtesy Chicken Maison

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Chicken Maison, a Mediterranean rotisserie chicken chain, is also famous for its grilled kabobs. The Kabob Feast includes six chicken, kafta, or steak kabobs, plus four veggie skewers, four large sides, pita, and garlic sauce for $65.95. They also have a similar combo called the Chicken Feast for $52.95. It replaces the kabobs with two whole rotisserie chickens. Their side dishes include steamed vegetables, potato salads, grape leaves, tabbouleh, falafel, and more. They’ve got 11 locations in the South Bay and Orange County.

Stonefire Grill (12 locations in the Southland)

There are a dozen Stonefire Grill locations from Ventura to Rancho Cucamonga and on down to Irvine. They’ve got a distinctly Southern California menu of pizza, tri tip barbecue, and fresh salads. I think this might be a holdover from the early 2020s lockdown era, but a hungry family can still order the Stonefire Grill 'Stimulus Package.’ It’s no longer publicized on their main menu, but you can access it when you order online. This great deal includes a whole chicken or half tri tip, a 12-inch two-topping pizza or shareable pasta, plus a garden or caesar salad, and eight breadsticks for $45.29 (though the price slightly varies by location.) It’s easily enough for 4-6 people. Sometimes we’ll pay a few bucks more for their BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad and The Works Pizza with sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, mushrooms, and red onions.

Panini Kabob (30 locations throughout Southern California)

Panini Kabob's Persian-style skewers and side dishes

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Courtesy Panini Kabob

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Whenever we celebrate a birthday with my wife’s family we’ll order in from Panini Kabob. Their Persian-style skewers, fresh salads and side dishes always hit the spot. We’ll typically pick up the Family Kabob Combo. It comes with four chicken kabobs grilled alongside tomatoes, green peppers and onions. It also includes a tray of rice, and salad. You can feed four to six people for $69.99. I like splitting the rice between basmati and bulgur wheat pilaf. For the salad option we’ll usually get a half caesar salad / half romaine avocado. We’ll also add two a la carte koobidehs. Everybody is festively well-fed and the bill comes out to around $100.

India Sweets & Spices (five locations in Los Angeles)

Indian Sweet and Spices: a filling vegetarian option at a nice price point

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Courtesy Indian Sweets and Spices

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If you’re looking for a filling vegetarian option at a nice price point head to India Sweets & Spices. It’s a small chain of South Asian grocers with an excellent cafeteria-style restaurant in the back. The menus differ at each location, but if you pick up a few lunch specials you can feed a family for days. At the Northridge store the Food Combo #2 is $9 and comes with your choice of white or yellow rice, samosa, naan, papadam, pickle, yogurt, and a dessert which is usually gulab jaman. It also comes with two of the many entrees on the steam table. I’ll usually get chana masala, aloo gobi, saag paneer and paneer tikka masala. If I get two orders for $18, that’s enough for my wife and kids (but my kids are only gonna eat the rice and naan. So I usually order a few more foils of naan.)

Tikiyaki (City of Orange)

Tikiyaki in the City of Orange is one of those places that people whisper about in online forums for having delicious food with absurdly enormous portions. They do offer party trays, but if you’re trying to pick up dinner for the family, just order a few of their combo plates. They generously stuff a mountain of rice, meat, vegetables, and an egg roll into the container. The #12 Chicken & Steak Plate will set you back $11.99, but it feeds two to three people. Other popular items include the short ribs, coconut shrimp, tropical orange chicken and the extra spicy version, ‘Volcano Chicken.’ If you need a good vegetarian option, they also serve tofu. Mix-and-match and easily get enough food for 6 people for under $40.

King Pollo (Anaheim)

At King Pollo, the beloved Orange County chicken shack, you can get great burgers, boba, burritos and teriyaki bowls but a family of 6-8 is gonna want to order the famed Family Pack. For $45.49 you’ll get two whole chickens, plus large orders of beans, rice and potato salad. It also comes with tortillas and two containers of salsa. If you need a third pollo rostisado plus extra large sides, you can get the Super Family Pack for $67.49. If you need less, there’s always the single chicken’d Mini Pack for $26.49.