Phoenix needs input of homeless people on restrictions

Most bus stops across Phoenix have replaced benches with individual seating structures to reduce the likelihood of someone sleeping. A number of exit, onramps and vacant lots have “no trespassing” signs posted on state property to deter people from the areas.

The public is told where walking, resting and congregating can and cannot happen within public space. However, vulnerable populations, including people who are unhoused, are often directly and indirectly removed from public areas and excluded from decisions about what happens to public features.

The city of Phoenix retroactively gave the public an avenue to express their voices about the approved Strategies to Address Homelessness Plan. It provided surveys to people experiencing homelessness and people who are not — surveys meant to identify social needs. The homelessness plan focuses on service priorities and sustainable strategies that produce solutions for those experiencing homelessness and communities impacted by encampments. My hope is that the plan:

will not be cloaked in fear of potential criminalization

● will not privilege the who are not experiencing exclusively

● recommits to community collaboration between the city council, Phoenix boards and committees, as well as community groups, to co-develop innovative strategies in support of the needs of all people in Phoenix, including those who are unsheltered.

My concern about the fear of criminalization stems from Section C.1.1. of the plan which says, “additional staff resources [are] needed to coordinate and track alley encampments and PHX CARES program services.” This action item is vague, as it allows Phoenix to collect data about where encampments are located.

The public should clearly understand what Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, Phoenix CARES and the Phoenix Police Department will do with the data. Remember, the parks and recreation department’s motto is “Clean. population homelessness,

Safe. Accessible.” The public assumes a whole community and that their work should be dedicated to everyone; the public should hold them accountable to their motto.

Recently, the Phoenix Community Alliance, of which I am a member, hosted a community forum to recommit Phoenix to the social infrastructure of homelessness and supportive housing initiatives. The city council will develop a community action group to work with the public on additional outreach efforts.

One solution to address the balance of public use and safety for all people requires the community action group to commit to collaboration, justice and equity in its outreach efforts and solutions.

The group should aim to produce inclusive public space designs, involving landscape and architectural designers with expertise in public design solutions, as well as community leaders and organizations that work directly with unsheltered populations. The group should propose data-driven design solutions that address public needs, including the health, safety and welfare of unsheltered people.

We the public are not unsusceptible to experiencing homelessness, especially in times of pandemic. In January 2019, Maricopa Association of Governments reported 6,614 people experiencing homelessness. In the same year, the unsheltered population (people living on the streets, in dry rivers, cars, etc.) reached 50% of the overall population of people experiencing homelessness and this number continues to rise.

The public has an obligation to hold the city accountable to its residents. Policies have historically displaced vulnerable people, including the unhoused.

Current state and local policies, such as the Strategies to Address Homelessness Plan, attempt to protect vulnerable people. But there must be more city-directed efforts to develop design solutions and data-driven policies that consciously minimize the risk of unsheltered people and support the social needs of residents.