House Them or Hide Them? LA’s Choice Before 2028

A four-part investigation into Olympic displacement, community expertise, and what Los Angeles can still do before the world arrives.

Letters to the Housed by Paul Asplund of SecondGrace.LA

LA 2028 — Letters to the Housed | Paul Asplund

The deadlines

FIFA World Cup — Los Angeles

June 11, 2026

-- Days

-- Hours

-- Mins

-- Secs

Olympic Opening Ceremony

July 14, 2028

-- Days

-- Hours

-- Mins

-- Secs

What Paris taught us

In the 18 months leading up to the 2024 Paris Games, 19,526 people were displaced from their living spaces — including 4,550 children. Zero permanent housing was created. Services were severed. Communities were scattered to cities they didn't know.

But Paris also contained a small program that worked. 256 people were placed in dignified, stable, relationship-based housing near their existing support networks. Outreach workers with trusted relationships made offers that were actually responsive to what people needed.

"When solutions are adapted, dignified, and humane, they are accepted and allow exits from the street even for the most complicated situations."

The full failure and the small success carry the same lesson: people make rational decisions when given rational choices. The question is whether the city is making rational offers.

The failure

19,526

People displaced in Paris — including 4,550 children. Encampments cleared. Services severed. Zero permanent housing created.

The proof

256

People housed through Paris's dignified placement program. When the offer was right, people said yes. Every time.

The Four-Part Series

Publishing every Tuesday in April 2026 · Letters to the Housed on Substack

Part 1 of 4

What Paris Taught Us, and What LA Could Still Accomplish

Mega-events, displacement, and the choice in front of Los Angeles.

April 7, 2026