(Pleasanton Weekly) -- The design solution for California’s homeless crisis may come in the form of steel Lego-like modular units with electricity, showers and key-pad locks that are assembled by forklift into temporary communities on public land.
That is the vision of state Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, who promoted his Senate Bill 1395 on Thursday morning in Sacramento. He was joined by co-authors Assemblymember Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara, and state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, who both called for local governments to allow these places to be sited on public land.
“This is a California problem,” said Becker. “Everybody knows we have a large homeless population. What everybody doesn’t know is that 67% of our homeless population is unsheltered. Nationally, that’s 20%. In New York it’s 5%.”
He said, “People on the street are suffering much worse outcomes. They’re dying on the street, they’re being assaulted on the street, they are becoming addicted to drugs on the street.”
Read more here.