The shift has been dramatic.
Last month, outreach workers with the Downtown Partnership counted only 846 people living without shelter in San Diego’s urban core. It was the first time in more than two years that the downtown total dipped below 1,000.
But a different count is approaching its own two-year mark: The number of people countywide reporting that they’ve lost a place to stay for the first time has outpaced how many homeless people found housing for the 21st straight month.
The changing landscapes offer a number of challenges for leaders, outreach workers, police and those struggling to stay on their feet.
Officials have nonetheless celebrated the shift in San Diego’s center, which had become one of the most visible examples of a growing crisis. Many sidewalks, for example, that used to be unwalkable because of tarps and trash are now clear.
“That is good news, and we are clearly moving in the right direction,” Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who represents the area, said in a statement. “Now we need to build upon this progress and help the remaining folks on the streets into safer and healthier places.”
The number of people living on downtown streets had repeatedly risen since early 2021, around the time the convention center stopped serving as a pandemic-era shelter. That trend only reversed last June when council members approved the city’s camping ban. Almost every month since has seen a drop, with December’s population less than half the total before the new rules.
It’s not entirely clear where everybody went.
Some did get housing. In one large encampment near the old central library, a state grant helped move nearly 20 people to a permanent place. Others are in shelters. Whitburn said 521 were staying at the city’s new safe sleeping sites near Balboa Park as of early this month, and more people overall are asking for help — yet a limited number of beds is one reason many requests fail.
Mayor Todd Gloria recently pledged 1,000 more spots, including at H Barracks, a soon-to-be empty lot by the airport.
“There is more political will to do something than there was years ago,” said Rosemary Johnston, a former executive director of the Interfaith Shelter Network.
But she was concerned that leaders had boosted police sweeps before there was enough space for everybody who wanted assistance.
“They put the cart before the horse,” she added. “Now they have a lot of catching up to do.”
Some homelessness organizations in other parts of the county have anecdotal evidence of recent arrivals from the city of San Diego, but there is little data.
That will hopefully change soon when the Regional Task Force on Homelessness conducts its annual tally of those on local streets and in shelters.
The Jan. 25 point-in-time count — which still needs volunteers — should quantify homelessness in a dozen-plus cities. Results will be released later this year.
They will almost certainly show an overall increase.
More than 1,160 individuals countywide said they were newly homeless in December, according to the task force’s most recent report.
Almost 750 homeless people were successfully housed the same month, including dozens of young adults, nearly 100 veterans, more than 110 families and almost 190 people who were 55 or older.
The last time the region housed more than were lost was March 2022.
In total, the task force said more than 19,000 were receiving some form of services, from those on the street to people in transitional housing.
