San Jose Officials Target Other Homeless Sites After Clearing Out 'The Jungle'
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – "The Jungle," San Jose's infamous homeless encampment, thought to be one of the largest in the United States, was cleared out in early December.
Now, city officials are targeting other sites where the homeless are camping out.
Ray Bramson, the City of San Jose's Homelessness Response Manager, said a spot underneath the Coleman Avenue overpass downtown had to be cleared out recently.
"In the last count, there were over 1,230 people living along Los Gatos Creek, Coyote Creek and Guadalupe River," Bramson said. "So there's a lot of folks outside that still need our help."
The answer, according to Bramson, is permanent affordable housing. He said 150 people who camped at "The Jungle" have been helped into subsidized housing.
City officials were concerned that after closing "The Jungle," new encampments would begin to sprout up around the city and similar problems would crop up. With more than a hundred already moved into housing, Bramson said he hopes it can be the blueprint for dealing with the ongoing homeless problem in San Jose.