Across the nation, suburban homeless populations are growing. Many of these communities are unprepared to shelter or serve these growing populations.
When a shelter in the Bay Area suburb of Antioch closed because of funding cuts and growing demand that it could not meet, some of its clients moved into a field in the city. "In suburbs across the U.S., poverty has been growing faster than in cities," Devin Katayama writes in KQED, and few communities were prepared for this trend.
"Antioch residents often talk about the lack of jobs and public transportation, but the absence of sufficient social services is a big problem, too," Katayama reports. Homeless people have moved into Antioch to avoid police that target them in other areas, and some have just ended up there by happenstance. These outlying communities can be particularly difficult to navigate.
FULL STORY: The Suburbs: The New Face of Bay Area Homelessness
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San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
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California Homeless Arrests, Citations Spike After Ruling
An investigation reveals that anti-homeless actions increased up to 500% after Grants Pass v. Johnson — even in cities claiming no policy change.
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