Worried about homeless, Californians say they’d support a law mandating more shelters
Most Californians are concerned about homelessness in their community, and a majority supports the concept of a law that would require cities to build more shelters, according to a new statewide survey.
A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that 85 percent of respondents are concerned about the state’s estimated 130,000 homeless people, with 58 percent reporting being “very concerned.”
That concern transcended political affiliation and region.
A majority of Republicans, independents (both 61 percent) and Democrats (59 percent) said they were “very concerned,” as did residents in the Bay Area (63 percent), Los Angeles (60 percent), Inland Empire (58 percent), Orange County and San Diego (55 percent) and the Central Valley (52 percent).
“Majorities of Californians across the state’s regions are very concerned about homeless people in their community, and many have noticed an increase in the local homeless population over the past year,” PPIC Chief Executive Officer Mark Baldassare said in prepared remarks.
The survey found that, across all regions, at least half of those surveyed believe that the homeless population has increased in the last 12 months.
Those numbers were most pronounced in Los Angeles (63 percent) and least pronounced in Orange County/San Diego (49 percent).
A majority of those surveyed, regardless of party, support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “right to shelter” platform and a proposed state policy that would require local governments to provide enough shelter beds for any homeless person to be able to sleep indoors.
That policy has the support of 70 percent of likely voters, 87 percent of Democrats, 67 percent of independents and 56 percent of Republicans.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Worried about homeless, Californians say they’d support a law mandating more shelters."
