Cities Across US Struggle With Homeless Encampments

Advocates say police sweeps are not the answer, but long-term solutions are elusive
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 3, 2023 1:40 PM CST
Cities Across US Struggle With Homeless Encampments
A San Francisco Public Works crew cleans items from a homeless encampment in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Tossing tent poles, blankets, and a duffel bag into a shopping cart and three wagons, Will Taylor spent a summer morning helping friends tear down what had been their home and that of about a dozen others in Portland, Oregon. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last. "It can get hard," says Taylor, 32, who has been swept at least three times in the four years he's been homeless. "It is what it is. … I just let it go." Tent encampments have long been a fixture of West Coast cities, but are now spreading across the US. The federal count of homeless people reached 580,000 last year, driven by lack of affordable housing, a pandemic that economically wrecked households, and lack of access to mental health and addiction treatment.

Records obtained by the AP show attempts to clear encampments increased in cities from Los Angeles to New York as public pressure grew to address what some residents say are dangerous and unsanitary living conditions. In Phoenix, for example, the number of encampments that were swept soared to more than 3,000 last year from 1,200 in 2019. Las Vegas removed about 2,500 camps through September, up from 1,600 in 2021. Encampments were not a serious issue in Minneapolis until the pandemic, when they became more commonplace and much larger, drawing thousands of complaints. In response, the city closed down more than two dozen sites where 383 people were camped from March 2022 until February.

Still, despite tens of millions of dollars spent in recent years, there appears to be little reduction in the number of tents popping up. Homeless people and their advocates say that the sweeps are cruel and that the answer is more housing, not crackdowns. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose state is home to nearly one-third of the country's homeless population, says leaving hazardous makeshift camps to fester is neither compassionate nor an option. He is among Democratic and Republican leaders urging the US Supreme Court to take up a controversial 9th Circuit appellate court ruling that prohibits local governments from clearing encampments without first assuring everyone living there is offered a bed indoors. "And that's a hell of a statement coming from a progressive Democrat," he said. Read the full story for much more.

(More homelessness stories.)

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