Every era of American homelessness has its symbol. For the hobos, it was the train. For the bums, it was the flophouse. Now, it’s the tent.
In the second episode of Street Fight, we trace how tents spread across America’s sidewalks and the problems that came with them. Our guide for much of that story is Estela Lopez, who grew up in Los Angeles and has worked on Skid Row for 20 odd-years. Over that time, Lopez has watched those 50 blocks transform from difficult to desperate, a place where disease, fires, assaults, and overdoses are part of daily life.
Then we learn about a court case that wound up bringing a version of Skid Row to other parts of the country. At the heart of that case, Martin v. City of Boise, is a moral argument that’s hard to dismiss: that it’s wrong to arrest a person for sleeping outside when she or he has nowhere else to go. To fine someone, or jail him, because there aren’t enough shelter beds feels cruel. But when cities rolled back their enforcement of public-order laws and encampments sprang up in parks and under overpasses, the people living and working nearby began to feel like something had gone badly wrong.
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