A series of articles from around the Internet in recent weeks highlights the need for more services and support for the homeless. The location of this story is set in California, but all communities should heed these warnings.
Adam Rogers describes the large Hepatitis A outbreak in California (mostly in San Diego but spreading to Los Angeles and Santa Cruz as well) in context of larger concerns about the future of public health if social policy doesn't address homelessness.
"Homeless people present a particular challenge for health—but for reasons as much political as medical. When the urban infrastructure shows signs of weakness, as it has with these hep A outbreaks, it’s not just a medical tragedy. It’s a signal of a failure yet to come," writes Rogers.
Rogers undertakes a detailed exploration of the Hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego, and traces the lessons public health officials have been learning as they've been battling the outbreak in 2017.
Another article by Emily Moon examines the city of San Diego's efforts to leverage the Hepatitis A outbreak to develop more housing for the city's homeless population (9,000 people, according to the figure cited in the article). Since the outbreak, the city created the city's first legal homeless camp (as reported by Gary Warth in October), but advocates and city officials are pushing for more housing.
"In San Diego, city council members and shelter owners alike subscribe to the tenets of Housing First [pdf], a Housing and Urban Development-sanctioned approach started under George W. Bush that prioritizes permanent supportive housing over treatment for health issues like addiction," writes Moon.
Finally, a local report by Gale Holland breaks the news of the first new public toilets on skid row in Los Angeles in more than a decade. "The action represents a new consensus among many downtown interests about how to provide the essential service on skid row," writes Holland. "The restrooms also are expected to help in the fight against a statewide hepatitis A outbreak spread by poor hygiene in homeless camps that has killed more than a dozen people in San Diego." As reported by Holland, not everyone in attendance at the press conference announcing the new toilets were pleased with the city's actions leading up to the event.
FULL STORY: California's Hepatitis A Outbreak Is the Future Poking Us in the Face
Lessons From San Diego's Hepatitis A Outbreak
Voice of San Diego reports in detail about the months of warning San Diego officials had about the spread of Hepatitis A in public areas around the city. Still, prevention measures took a back seat to bureaucracy.
Extreme Heat Responsible for Growing Death Rates Among Unhoused People
Extreme heat events like the ‘heat dome’ that baked Southern California last summer kill a disproportionate number of people experiencing homelessness, who have fewer resources to protect themselves from the scorching sun.
Opinion: Keep Public Toilets at L.A. Homeless Encampments
The city is planning to remove the hundreds of public toilets and hand-washing stations installed during the pandemic. But the need for them isn't going away.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association