Some developments in the clearing of illegal Austin transient camps.
Today the statewide homeless camping ban went into effect:
Beginning Wednesday, there will be a second law prohibiting homeless camping in Austin — this one in the form of a statewide ban approved by the Texas Legislature that could bring stiff consequences if officials in the capital city do not comply with it.
The statewide camping ban — which is among more than 660 new laws going into effect as of Sept. 1 — impacts all local jurisdictions in the state. But it was written with Austin in mind due to the city’s unsheltered homelessness problem and the perception from a number of statewide officials that local leaders don’t have a workable plan to fix it.
Also, by an amazing coincidence, the city of Austin finally started clearing some homeless camps on Tuesday:
The City of Austin moved 23 people from a homeless campsite at the underpass at Highway 183 and Oak Knoll Boulevard on Tuesday, according to a press release.
The individuals experiencing homelessness are now temporarily staying at the Southbridge shelter and the Northbridge shelter. The City-owned Southbridge shelter has 75 bedrooms.
- Note the “individuals experiencing homelessness” PC neologism that’s become ubiquitous recently, presumably because it focus-tested better than “sturdy beggars” or “drug-addicted criminal transients.”
- The Northbridge shelter is at 7400 I-35 North.
- It remains to be seen if this clearing will be extended to other locations, or only those that that can be housed by the Homeless Industrial Complex.
I haven’t been out to check if the 183/Oak Knoll camp has truly been cleared. The one at McNeil and 183 was still there Monday. Might the Austin City Council finally be obeying the will of the people?
I wouldn’t bet on it.
In the interim, here’s a form to report encampments and request cleanup. Not sure if it will actually work, but we can try.
FYI, you can now see some Austin homeless camps in Google Maps aerial view, like the one along 290 median west of I-35:
Tags: Austin, Crime, Democrats, homeless, I-35, Texas, Welfare State
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