Skid Row, officially known as Central City East, is an area of Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles

Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...

. As of the 2000 census, the population of the district was 17,740.
The area contains one of the largest stable populations of homeless persons in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Local homeless count estimates have ranged from 3,668 to 5,131. The 2011 point in time estimate was 4,316. People passing through this area see cardboard boxes and camping tents lining the sidewalks.