Orange County Was Set to House the Homeless, and There Was a Popular Revolt

SANTA ANA, Calif.—Faced with a growing homeless population and a federal judge’s order to find shelter for hundreds of people living on the streets, Orange County lawmakers recently devised a plan: Open as many as three temporary shelters across this coastal county.

It didn’t last a week.

On Tuesday, county supervisors scrapped the plan for the shelters, following days of furious blowback from residents who accused them of trying to erect “tent cities” that would turn upscale neighborhoods into skid rows.

As homeless populations continue to climb in cities along the West Coast—fueled by the dwindling stock of affordable housing—the battle in Orange County, a wealthy enclave south of Los Angeles, demonstrates one of the enduring challenges of getting people off the streets: Few communities will agree to house them.

The question of where to shelter the homeless is now pitting Orange County’s 34 cities against one another, with each arguing that temporary homeless shelters don’t belong there, and blaming the county for failing to tackle the problem until it was too late.

In response to a federal lawsuit filed in January a judge ordered county officials to find shelter for hundreds of people who were cleared out of an encampment along the Santa Ana riverbed last month.

The county agreed to provide 30-day motel vouchers for nearly 700 people, and hoped to move them into shelters and other housing within the month. Many of the motel vouchers expire this week, and no one is sure where those staying in the motels will go.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/orange-county-was-set-to-house-the-homeless-and-there-was-a-popular-revolt/ar-AAvfPR8?li=BBnb7Kz