Gavin Newsom unveils a new $30 million plan to build 1,200 tiny houses for the homeless in expanding the controversial scheme critics claim is merely a ‘Band-Aid on a crisis’
- California will invest $30 million in a new tiny house project to address the state’s homelessness epidemic
- But Newsom has come under fire for the plan, which critics say puts a “Band-Aid” on the problem.
- California accounts for one-third of the entire homeless population in the US.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to invest $30 million to build 1,200 tiny houses to address the state’s homelessness epidemic.
Newsom unveiled the tiny house project at his first stop on a four-city tour in Sacramento on Thursday.
The 120-square-foot properties can be assembled in just 90 minutes and will be connected to electricity, though they will have no plumbing, water, or cooking appliances.
But critics have called it the equivalent of putting a “Band-Aid” on the crisis and accused the governor of “sweeping things under the rug.”
Nearly a third of all homeless people in the United States reside in California.
California will invest $30 million to build 1,200 tiny houses, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday
Newsom claimed his scheme would create space to clear the homeless encampments that continue to spring up in major cities.
‘We need to focus more energy and precision on tackling the camps,’ he said during a trip
‘There is no humanity there. People are dying under our watch.
Federal courts previously ruled that cities cannot clear homeless encampments if shelter beds are not available.
Some 350 homes will be placed in Sacramento, 500 in Los Angeles, 200 in San Jose and 150 in San Diego.
The state will pay for the construction and installation of the properties but local governments will be in charge of maintaining them.
But critics say the scheme doesn’t go far enough, with California’s homeless population up 6 percent since 2020.
Comparatively, the rest of the nation has seen a 0.4 increase in the same period, according to an analysis of federal data by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Senator Brian W. Jones said: ‘This is just another band-aid on a crisis that is spiraling out of control in California.
‘We know that throwing money at this problem doesn’t work.
“California has already spent $20 billion in the last five years on homelessness and the crisis has only gotten worse with more than 172,000 people living on the streets in this state.”
He added: “While I appreciate the Governor’s creativity in building 1,200 tiny houses, that’s a drop in the bucket.”
Meanwhile, Republican Assemblyman Josh Hoover added that it wouldn’t “make much of a dent.”
The 120 square foot properties can be assembled in just 90 minutes and will be connected to electricity. A prototype is shown
Newsom was forced to deny that the project was a case of ‘sweeping things under the rug’
Drone footage shows rows of people sitting outside a shelter in San Francisco last year. California has a third of the homeless population in the US.
“I think this is another splashy ad that I’m skeptical will get results,” Hoover told the Los Angeles Times.
Also, neither San Francisco nor Oakland will receive houses under the scheme.
A similar project has already been implemented in Oakland from 2018 to 2021 with mixed results.
Newsom acknowledged Thursday that the project was not a one-size-fits-all solution.
“It’s not just about sweeping things under the rug or kicking people off the streets and sidewalks and claiming a job well done,” he said.
That doesn’t do it justice.
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