Editorial: Anchorage needs to take care of its unsheltered residents, not exile them
LA TimesPeople walk from a homeless encampment in Anchorage. With cold weather coming soon to Alaska and few beds available in homeless shelters, Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson announced an affordable idea for dealing with his city’s homeless population — offer them plane tickets to somewhere else. But Bronson makes it sound like he’s just tired of homeless people on his streets when he says he also has to take care of the taxpayer who “doesn’t want to see what I see every day on the street — homeless people who appear to be visibly homeless, misbehaving.” Last year, the Salvation Army did offer plane tickets out of Anchorage to homeless people who they could confirm had family or friends to stay with elsewhere. L.A. city officials spend a lot of time trying to discourage that and get other cities in L.A. county to pull their weight when it comes to providing temporary and permanent housing for homeless people. Anchorage’s 2023 homeless count recorded 1,760 people living on the street and in overnight shelters — up from 1,494 last year.
History of this topic
Anchorage adds to record homeless death total as major winter storm drops more than 2 feet of snow
Associated PressAnchorage scrambles to find enough housing for the homeless before the Alaska winter sets in
Associated Press
Ship Alaska’s homeless population off to California? They say no way, ‘Alaska’s my home’
LA TimesAnchorage homeless face cold and bears. A plan to offer one-way airfare out reveals a bigger crisis
Associated Press
Anchorage mayor wants to give homeless people a one-way ticket to warm climates before Alaska winter
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