Politics Report: Homelessness Will Be Everything Again, Soon

By Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts, the Voice of San Diego

May 29, 2021

The San Diego Downtown Partnership updated its monthly count of homelessness Friday within downtown and revealed a large spike. The Partnership counted 1,157 homeless residents downtown – up from 875 in April and 721 in March.

That is roughly the same population of visible homeless individuals downtown as there were during the hepatitis A crisis that started in March 2017 – but this comes years after the massive mobilization to sweep tent encampments and shelter individuals and their belongings began. Now, for example, unlike 2017, Golden Hall, the convention area next to City Hall is an official homeless shelter and seems like it will be for some time.

Become a VOSD member to unlock the Politics Report and get full access.

Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization supported by our members. We reveal why things are the way they are and expose facts that people in power might not want out there and explain complex local public policy issues so you can be engaged and make good decisions. Sign up for our newsletters at voiceofsandiego.org/newsletters/.