The Fight for Skid Row

HOMELESS: R.J. Brooks, his daughter Saeeda, left, and her friend Sean Elam live on the sidewalk on skid row. Elam was forced to relocate to Towne Avenue, where the Brookses now stay.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

DOWN AND OUT ON DIGITAL: Shu Woo, co-owner of ABC Toys, displays an image of a person shooting up drugs in front of his company on San Pedro Street on skid row. Woo says the problem is so severe that mail carriers sometimes don’t deliver his mail.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / LAT)

SKID ROW SNOOZE: A man sleeps on a 3rd Street sidewalk in downtown L.A. on Tuesday afternoon. A proposed compromise between the city and the ACLU would make it illegal to sleep on skid row streets during the daytime.  (Brian VanderBrug / LAT)

PACKING UP: Nelson Ware, who has been living in and around skid row for at least 20 years, removed his items from the sidewalk on Glady Street before the city spray-cleaned the area in July.  (Al Seib / LAT)

HOME: A homeless man emerges from a cardboard shelter set up in a vacant lot in downtown L.A.  (Luis Sinco / LAT)

DRINKING: A pair of homeless men hang out at their skid row camp.  (Luis Sinco / LAT)

HALT: Jeff Dietrich, a member of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, lays in front of a cleaning truck to protest the operation.  (Al Seib / LAT)

HIGH PRESSURE: A worker uses a washer to clean sidewalks on Gladys Street between 5th and 6th streets Tuesday morning, part of an effort by the Central City East Assn. to revitalize downtown.  (Al Seib / LAT)

DECISIONS: On Gladys Street between 5th and 6th streets, homeless people rummage through their belongings, leaving unwanted items in a pile to be loaded into a dump truck for removal. The cleanup effort is sponsored by the Central City East Assn.  (Al Seib / LAT)

INTERESTED PARTIES: ACLU attorney Carol Sobel, center, listens as L.A. council members discuss a settlement of the organization’s lawsuit against a law against sleeping on sidewalks. The council rejected the settlement, opting to instead appeal the case.  (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

SWEPT AWAY: A Central City East Assn. guard cleans up around a homeless campsite on 4th Street. Association security guards are dismantle and haul away tents that appear to have been abandoned.  (Brian VanderBrug / LAT)

SKID ROW SNOOZE: A man sleeps on a 3rd Street sidewalk in downtown L.A. on Tuesday afternoon. A proposed compromise between the city and the ACLU would make it illegal to sleep on skid row streets during the daytime.  (Brian VanderBrug / LAT)

URBAN CAMPING: Under the proposal drafted by the ACLU and Los Angeles police, homeless people would not be allowed to camp, sleep or lie on the sidewalks between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m  (Lawrence K. Ho / LAT)