One of the sad contradictions of the revival of core urban areas has been the clash between waves of investment and affluence with large populations of homelessness. Many cities are still coming to terms with the issue, much less solving it.
"As once derelict or sleepy downtown districts in U.S. cities evolve into thriving hot spots, officials are grappling with what to do about homeless populations that have long inhabited them," according to an article by Arian Campo-Flores, Cameron McWhirter and Alejandro Lazo.
The article also notes that thought he number of homeless people around the country is declining overall, several cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Seattle, the number is increasingly. "In New York, the homeless population increased nearly 42% to 75,323 from 53,187," for instance.
As planners know, redevelopment exacerbates the homelessness issue in more ways that one: "While city officials, who often support redevelopment, face added pressure from new residents to address homelessness, advocates for the unsheltered say the response too often is to try to remove them from sight without providing adequate support."
Besides those most famous of U.S. cities listed above, the article also spends some time in Tulsa, where downtown revitalization has meant that the city's homeless population is "no longer out of site out of mind."
FULL STORY: Thriving U.S. Cities Grapple With Homelessness Surge
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