Homeless encampment on Fort Pitt Boulevard in Downtown Pittsburgh has to go, city says
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The city says one of the Downtown homeless encampments that has been the site of violence, drug use and trash has to go.
Getting off the Parkway East on the Grant Street exit, it's the first thing you see. The homeless encampment along Fort Pitt Boulevard is strewn with garbage and oftentimes syringe needles. The city says that it has been the place of fights and open-air drug use in plain sight of Downtown workers and visitors.
"There was a lot of violence and criminal behavior occurring within the camp," said Camila Alarcon of the Office of Community Health and Safety. "A lot of victimization of women specifically and also the area, as you can see, it's so close to traffic."
The city is not banning all homeless encampments, but it is taking down this one on the recommendation of a review committee that is evaluating each one individually.
The tents on Grant Street will be allowed to stay for the time being, but the committee said continuing problems at the Fort Pitt Boulevard site necessitate its removal.
On Tuesday, Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said that city outreach workers gave tent dwellers a final offer of housing or drug rehabilitation.
"Working with the folks that are staying here to find them alternative places to be, housing solutions, shelter solutions, and helping get to those places by helping them move there," Schmidt said.
"We have three people into housing. Two people have asked to go to rehabilitation," Alarcon said.
Those who do not avail themselves of shelter, housing or rehab will merely relocate to another encampment, as the city says there are still between 150 and 200 people living on the street.
Rather than banning the encampments, the city and the committee evaluate each on a case-by-case basis. But after examining the conditions at the Fort Pitt Boulevard camp, it was decided that it had to go.