A homeless man, who built a moving wooden house on wheels and placed it on Hollywood Boulevard, is receiving mixed reactions among local residents.
The man, who goes by the name “Q,” built the makeshift home using discarded wood from construction sites while placing the structure on wheels using dollies to move it around, Fox 11 reported.
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Q told the outlet that he used to live in a tent but grew tired of having to take it down every two weeks for city sanitation workers to clean the sidewalks.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, citing municipal bylaws, officials can only remove a temporary shelter on the streets “if a person is blocking the sidewalk… or an active business or driveway.” However, since the wooden house was visibly blocking the boulevard sidewalk, the police asked Q to move it elsewhere by Thursday. He did not say where he would move it to next.
Q says he moved to L.A. from Kansas City three years ago and has lived in the moving house for three months. He believes he is setting a good example for other homeless people in the Hollywood area.
“I feel good,” Q told Fox 11. “I feel like I’m, you know, kind of being an example for people that’s in my situation. Letting them know that just because you are living on the streets doesn’t mean that you have to just let go of everything.”
One owner of a nearby local coffee shop does not mind moving the wooden house since he is not bothering anyone, further saying that he feels “safer” with him being there. His colleague concurred, saying, “Unfortunately, they have to make us a little bit uncomfortable to be comfortable.”
However, during a broadcast segment on Q’s house, Fox 11 anchors Elex Michaelson and Marla Tellez raised questions as to whether he was paying property taxes or an electricity bill, which other L.A. residents have to pay for. Q noted that he uses his own generator and does not use city electricity.
When asked if he would move into an apartment if the city offered him one, he said he did not plan on moving from his makeshift wooden home.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.