![]() Unlike other cities, Los Angeles had a deliberate policy to concentrate the homeless in Skid Row. ![]() homeless communities at the Urban Institute. She grew up in Los Angeles and studied U.S. “Railroads would have come in there and people who got that day labor would have lived there in rooming houses,” says Martha Burt. In the 1870s, it was a transportation hub for the seasonal laborers who worked in the nearby citrus groves. This part of downtown has always been home to the poorest people in the city. But when the sun sets, all the fabric and toys are dragged inside and secured behind padlocked metal gates. And dozens of toy stores are filled with every imaginable plastic bauble. Wholesalers put out sidewalk displays of huge rolls of fabric with flowers and paisley prints. In the morning, Skid Row is full of color. That’s what this place consists of,” he explained, his voice lowering into a much more serious tone. “It’s disease and drugs and alcohol and poverty. He is one of about 5,000 people living on the streets in this 50-block neighborhood Little Daddy calls The Devil’s Den. Tonight Little Daddy will sleep on a small rectangle of cardboard, if he sleeps at all. “It’s like poppa was a rolling stone,” he said, and then asked me if I had any smokes. In a smooth, almost musical voice, he told me he was originally from Texas, Detroit and Chicago. He looked sharp in his black leather jacket, silk shirt and purple pants. He was walking briskly up a hill on the outskirts of Skid Row. On a recent Friday night in Skid Row, I met Little Daddy. But there are signs that for the first time since the city’s founding, the area may be changing. And it has been that way for a very long time. Los Angeles’s Skid Row has the highest concentration of homeless people in the country. Here in Los Angeles the situation is uniquely bad. Every city has a part of downtown where small groups of homeless people gather. In my book Clementine is the greatest video game heroine of all time, and season two is pretty damn close to the masterpiece that was season one.Homelessness in America is a problem that is far from solved. I felt a responsibility and admiration I've never felt for a character in a video game ever. It's hard to create a character that the player really connects with, but TellTale has gone beyond that with Clementine. She is still a young little girl, but a fierce survivor that beyond all else tries to navigate the moral dilemmas she is faced with. Season two gave us a development in Clementine that is hard to accomplish. Season one introduced us to a young girl, that we would die to protect. I won't tell you which ending I got, but I will say that it involved a hard to swallow good bye that was absolutely excellent. The ending (depending on how you play it) is again very emotional, and though it's hard to replicate the impact of the first seasons ending, in my opinion it got pretty close. The later half of the game focuses on a sort of rivalry between different characters, and you as the player has to choose which side you are on. The early part revolves around getting to know new characters, and being introduced to old ones as well. It also has arguably the greatest villain in the entire Walking Dead universe. In my opinion season two gives us THE most complex character in the entire universe, and I'm not talking about Clementine. In fact, the second season hosts a multitude of amazing characters, that you will either end up loving or hating depending on how you play. Not all characters fall into this catagory though. ![]() It seems ridiculous that a bunch of adults put all the responsibility on an 11 year old girl, but game has to game I guess. One of the biggest drawbacks in my opinion when it comes to the second season is that the majority of characters we meet feel like completely dead weight, unable to perform even the simplest of tasks. This season really cements her as a true protagonist, and a damn good one at that. The difference is that we are met with an older, more mature and independent Clementine. In the second season we play Clementine herself. So how does season two stack up in comparison? In season one we played as Lee, doing our best to protect precious little Clementine. It was a true 10/10, and the finale made me feel a sadness I've never before felt in a video game. A true masterpiece in storytelling and character development. The Walking Dead season 1 was something special.
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