Texas’s Camping Bans Will Help the Homeless
Large urban encampments are unsafe for everyone.
Many Americans think that homelessness is a problem confined to coastal states, but the issue is becoming prominent in Texas as well. Since 2017, the number of people in the state living outside—the “unsheltered homeless”—has increased by 50 percent. About 10,500 Texans now live, and all too often die, on the streets. One reason why: many Texas cities have condoned, or even encouraged, street camping and sleeping.
Voters from both parties find this unacceptable. A large, bipartisan majority of Austin residents reinstated the city’s camping and sleeping ban last month. The Texas legislature just passed a statewide ban on camping with overwhelming majorities.
Where is all that money going to fight homelessness in Arizona? No one knows