A Sheltered Downtown?

A request for expanding a local facility for at-risk women and children was turned down for the third time by the planning commission. Their proposed use for the property is a parking lot. "[Social Service] agencies [tend to] locate where rents were lowest and transportation most convenient for their clients...[The planning commission] sided with some business owners who argued that the presence of too many panhandlers and loiterers in the area drives away customers...[C]ity officials say they are protecting Pontiac's long-term interests."