Some say Fountain Square homeless camp closure conflicts with new housing push

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6 Comments

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  1. this whole situation has gotten completely out of hand. Anyone that drove by this camp knows it wasn’t just folks down on their luck. This was an encampment filled with drugs, mental illness and violence. At first I was like huh a few tents hopefully it doesn’t get out of control….and it did. You can’t just camp in public and do whatever you want. Actions have consequences. These people need help and housing but you can’t just give it to them without guardrails.

    1. Indeed. Imagine being so naive as to think that the only thing keeping these people in their filthy tweaker-tent villages is “lack of housing”.

      Give these folks a Jimmy Carter house and it’ll look as wretched as these camps within 45 minutes.

  2. I admire these groups work in this area. The unhomed issue is real and pressing.

    That said, if I was a home owner in that area, I would be livid that you say “Why not give us a little time to get this ramped up and give them what is a permanent solution, not a quick fix?”

    Everyone has been aware of this issue. Now you want more time because the city is taking action? No sir. Your group should have been acting all along. Think about the home owners that have invested in that community only to have it overrun. Think about the parents with kids in that area. Would you want your kids to play in your yard in that area?
    This closure is way past due.

  3. Shut it down. the article says they won’t go to a shelter regardless – so they want to stay there forever? give them one way tickets to California. they love that stuff out there.

  4. In 2018 the city announced a plan to end homelessness by adding 1,100 additional permanent supportive housing units and 700 rapid rehousing units. There were 1,682 homeless individuals that year (2018) and this year we’re at 1,815. CHIP was in charge of that initiative also and it doesn’t seem to have worked out very well so why do we expect CHIP to do it now when they couldn’t do it then?

  5. This camp first started in February 2025, it started with one VERY large tent. It was impressive when the front porch was built on with old pallets, two chairs set out for front porch sitting. It looked so cozy more tents popped up.Then the clothes line went up, and personal flags hung from tents. The last count was 30 or so tents. This isn’t a survival situation, this is an easy area to live if you don’t have any enforcement from city officials and you scare away the neighbors.

    Five months later and we are just now hearing about a plan of action, that’s not ready yet. I can see both sides of the issue and have compassion for people but I also expect certain living conditions and quality of life in a neighborhood I pay taxes to.

    Downtown is thriving, there is money to throw at this problem but we’ve waited too long and now will deal with the consequences.

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