In contrast to other California cities, seaside Santa Barbara is successfully reducing its homeless population. Local advocates cite a tight-knit network of service providers.
With a population of 90,000, Santa Barbara isn't one of California's largest urban areas. But its anti-homelessness efforts might prove instructive: "the 2017 [homeless] count revealed that at least 790 homeless people reside in Santa Barbara, down from 1,040 in 2011." Kate Wheeling covers the city's strategy, which involves coordinating a network of service providers through a central organization, the Central Coast Collaborative on Homelessness (C3H).
According to C3H executive director Chuck Flacks, the solution to homelessness isn't a mystery. "It's really about getting to know each of the people on the street, getting to know their needs, getting them into housing, and getting them the services they need to keep them housed."
"'Homeless people are more like a canary in a coal mine,' Flacks said. 'The homeless population tends to reflect some of the things that are broken in a system … mental health, alcohol and drug problems, and lack of housing.'"
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Assessing the scale of homelessness in the United States is surprisingly difficult, with statistics failing to capture the diversity of unhoused people and their situations.
Alternative Analysis Pegs L.A. Homeless Count at Over 100,000
Casting doubt on an official estimate of around 52,000, researchers at a Los Angeles-based nonprofit put the number at close to double that level. That's accounting for anyone who became homeless at some point during the year.
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San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research