LOS ANGELES—World-renowned Venice Beach has long been a place where visitors, residents, and business owners have commingled with artists, musicians, and entertainers from all over the country. Over 10 million tourists visit the California beach’s famous boardwalk each year, drawn in by the ocean view and the unconventional lifestyle of the neighborhood’s eccentric community.
But the famed destination no longer circulates in headlines for its wacky tourist attractions or local eateries. Instead, the beach town has become known worldwide for its flourishing homeless encampments, burgeoning filth, skyrocketing crime rate, and increasingly violent transients.
