The city’s new $6.5 million "bridge shelters" are providing a place to stay, but not accomplishing what they set out to do.
In the aftermath of the Hepatitis A outbreak last year, San Diego established three "bridge shelters," which originally were supposed to be a place for people who already had been given a housing subsidy but had not yet been matched with a permanent place to live.
But while hundreds of people have gone in, or gone in and come out and gone in again, only a fraction have been moved into homes or apartments.
"Critics," writes John Wilkins of the Union-Tribune, "say the poor performance is a reflection of a dysfunctional system that overemphasizes emergency shelters and hasn’t figured out how to align the community’s resources with the longer-term needs of the homeless."
San Diego has the fourth-largest homeless population in the nation, in part because it suffers from the same affordability crisis as other big cities in California (and elsewhere). Downtown San Diego doubled its number of housing units between 2010 and 2015, but saw rents double as well.
Read the full story: City's shelters falling short of goals in finding permanent housing for the homeless
California Getting Way More New Jobs Than New Housing
Even with tons of building permits already issued this year, the outlook for the state’s affordability crisis is pretty grim.
Opinion: Los Angeles Needs More Housing, Fast
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Phoenix Takes a New Approach on Homelessness
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
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