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Homelessness surges in San Francisco while tech's richest grow richer [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Homelessness surges in San Francisco while tech's richest grow richer
The number of homeless people in the city, where the cost of living is more unaffordable than ever, has increased to 8,011
Vivian Ho in San Francisco
Fri 17 May 2019 18.10 BST First published on Fri 17 May 2019 06.00 BST
San Francisco saw a 17% increase in its homeless population since its last homeless count, with numbers rising to levels that haven’t been recorded on these streets in 17 years.
The increase comes amid an IPO boom in a tech industry that has the city’s rich growing richer, the wealth disparities starker and the cost of living more unaffordable than ever.
“The cost of housing hasn’t gone down, so why does anyone expect that the amount of people experiencing homelessness would go down?” said Kelley Cutler, the human rights organizer for the Coalition on Homelessness.
The city released a preliminary summary of its one-night street count on Thursday, tallying the number of homeless people at 8,011. The uptick, according to the mayor’s office, came primarily from people living in their cars, who totaled 68% of those counted.
San Francisco conducts its homeless count every two years, as is required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The number is believed to be a low estimate, as federal guidelines for homelessness are broader than the city’s definitions, and the city will release a more accurate count in July. In 2017, the count at this time was 6,858 while the later tally came out to 7,499.
-snip-
The number of homeless people in the city, where the cost of living is more unaffordable than ever, has increased to 8,011
Vivian Ho in San Francisco
Fri 17 May 2019 18.10 BST First published on Fri 17 May 2019 06.00 BST
San Francisco saw a 17% increase in its homeless population since its last homeless count, with numbers rising to levels that haven’t been recorded on these streets in 17 years.
The increase comes amid an IPO boom in a tech industry that has the city’s rich growing richer, the wealth disparities starker and the cost of living more unaffordable than ever.
“The cost of housing hasn’t gone down, so why does anyone expect that the amount of people experiencing homelessness would go down?” said Kelley Cutler, the human rights organizer for the Coalition on Homelessness.
The city released a preliminary summary of its one-night street count on Thursday, tallying the number of homeless people at 8,011. The uptick, according to the mayor’s office, came primarily from people living in their cars, who totaled 68% of those counted.
San Francisco conducts its homeless count every two years, as is required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The number is believed to be a low estimate, as federal guidelines for homelessness are broader than the city’s definitions, and the city will release a more accurate count in July. In 2017, the count at this time was 6,858 while the later tally came out to 7,499.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/16/san-francisco-homeless-increase-tech-ipo
______________________________________________________________________
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
SF homeless population swells by 17% in latest tally
Kevin Fagan May 16, 2019 Updated: May 17, 2019 2:26 p.m.
Despite creating hundreds of new shelter beds and spending more than $300 million annually on homelessness, San Francisco has seen the number of homeless people in the city rise by 17% since 2017 — with a whopping amount of that increase coming from people living in vehicles.
A preliminary summary of January’s one-night street count released Thursday pegged the new number of homeless people in the city at 8,011, but that number is sure to be lower than the more complete count to be released in July. That’s because it was calculated using federal guidelines, which don’t account for as many types of homelessness as those the city uses.
Still, the federal data give an early glimpse of what city officials will be finding out in more detail later, and the glimpse is bracing.
The number of people living in cars, RVs and other vehicles has risen by 45% since the last one-night count was taken two years ago. That much has been anecdotally evident for months, particularly in industrial Bayview neighborhoods, where vehicle colonies have sprouted in ever-increasing numbers over the past year.
-snip-
Kevin Fagan May 16, 2019 Updated: May 17, 2019 2:26 p.m.
Despite creating hundreds of new shelter beds and spending more than $300 million annually on homelessness, San Francisco has seen the number of homeless people in the city rise by 17% since 2017 — with a whopping amount of that increase coming from people living in vehicles.
A preliminary summary of January’s one-night street count released Thursday pegged the new number of homeless people in the city at 8,011, but that number is sure to be lower than the more complete count to be released in July. That’s because it was calculated using federal guidelines, which don’t account for as many types of homelessness as those the city uses.
Still, the federal data give an early glimpse of what city officials will be finding out in more detail later, and the glimpse is bracing.
The number of people living in cars, RVs and other vehicles has risen by 45% since the last one-night count was taken two years ago. That much has been anecdotally evident for months, particularly in industrial Bayview neighborhoods, where vehicle colonies have sprouted in ever-increasing numbers over the past year.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-homeless-population-swells-by-17-in-latest-13851897.php
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