You’re hearing the reports today about the massive clean-up of a large homeless encampment along the San Diego River bed near the 5 freeway and Friars road.
It is the latest episode in the ongoing story of homelessness in our city.
You might say what happened this week is a reflection of a 155-thousand pound problem that has gotten worse over the last few years.
That’s how many pounds of debris that was collected by city crews from that river bed encampment. That’s about 77 tons of debris and the evidence of how huge the problem of homelessness in San Diego.
The head of what the city calls its homelessness strategies and solutions department told the San Diego Union Tribune the clearing out of the encampment where about 100 people have been living is intended to save lives.
According to the latest reports, the number of homeless countywide has grown every month for two and a half years as more and more cities in the county have passed bans on encampments.
So it looks like the giant problem of homelessness as evidenced by the massive clean-up of near the 5 freeway is a sign that the encampment bans on streets, sidewalks and parks are leading people who are homeless to move to other areas like along the river bed.
The homeless problem is a huge economic and humanitarian problem and it’s going to take some huge solutions to solve it.
(Photo Getty Images)