US City to Solve Homelessness by Moving People Elsewhere

Homelessness is a prodigious predicament in urban USA! 

According to a Forbes piece published April 16, 2021, a US Department of Housing and Urban Development report said levels of homelessness have increased for four consecutive years and just over 580,000 people experienced it on a single night in 2020. 

Of that total, 61% were staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing while the remainder were forced to live in unsheltered locations such as the street, abandoned buildings or locations unsuitable for human habitation. Unsheltered homelessness in the US is primarily a problem in cities with nearly 6 out of every 10 people experiencing it living in an urban area. 

And more than half of all people experiencing homelessness there in 2020 were in just four states: California (28% or 161,548 people), New York (16% or 91,271 people), Florida (5% or 27,487 people), and Texas (5% or 27,229). 

On a single night in January 2020, slightly more than half of all Americans experiencing homelessness were in one of the country's 50 largest cities with one out of every four people experiencing it in either New York City or Los Angeles. 

Malibu, a beach city situated about 30 miles (48 km) west of Downtown LA, like the rest of Los Angeles County in California has seen an uptick in its homeless population, but Malibu City Council’s proposed solution to the crisis looks very different from strategies deployed elsewhere. 

In a March 24 meeting, Malibu City Council members voted unanimously to have the City’s Homeless Task Force pursue their proposal to establish an “alternative sleeping location” outside of city limits. 

The reason given for locating the ASL outside of Malibu is the limited availability of services and affordable housing in Malibu. These include public transportation, medical facilities, mental health and substance use treatment facilities, potential employment opportunities and continuing education/vocational training. 

This begs the question why not establish some of these services in Malibu? A concern cited in the meeting is that building housing and services will not solve Malibu’s homelessness, but rather attract more unhoused residents. 

“If we build it here, they will come because this is a great place to live… if you are just choosing to live unhoused, and by the way there’s a lot of people choosing to live unhoused, why not choose to live unhoused in Malibu if they’re inviting you to come do it?” said Councilmember Bruce Silverstein, later adding, “I don’t believe that the people of Malibu have a moral obligation to help people who come to Malibu in an unhoused state and choose to impose themselves on our residents”.  

I am reminded of a scene from the movie The Big Lebowski: