If cities don’t want homeless encampments they should help people, not punish them
If cities don’t want homeless encampments they should help people, not punish them
This summer, homeless encampments in cities such as Vancouver and Los Angeles and others were dismantled.
The reasons varied. In Vancouver, it was fire hazard concerns on Hastings Street, a major artery in the Downtown Eastside, where the encampment had sprung up over several blocks.
In Los Angeles, the encampment was on city-owned land intended for other uses. There, officials have gone even further to curtail encampments, with the city council approving a ban on homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycare centres.
Encampments of those experiencing homelessness have become a fixture in large cities as well as smaller communities. It should not be surprising that people who are unsheltered seek out the relative security, community and resources encampments can provide.
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