Songs from the Nickel

The Los Angeles area Central City East is informally known as the Los Angeles Skid Row or the Nickel. The area is best known for its high percentage of homeless street dwellers. Instead of living in cardboard boxes or tents, some people are able to rent a room in a local hotel. Some residents stay for a few months while others have lived there for as long as 40 years. In this city portrait, the hotel clerks and residents tell about the unlikely charm of the Nickel.