Housing Is How We End Homelessness, Not Police Sweeps
Punitive measures only trap people in a homelessness-jail cycle. Indianapolis is showing that there’s a better way.
A man walks past people living unsheltered on the sidewalk.
Photographer: Bloomberg Creative Photos/BloombergBefore the pandemic, the streets of downtown Indianapolis bustled with hundreds of thousands of people on any given day. The city drew commuters, convention-goers and other visitors to its walkable downtown. But with the pandemic sending the number of office workers and tourists plummeting, Indianapolis’s sidewalks don’t hum with the same energy as before Covid-19 hit.
That doesn’t mean the streets are empty. Indianapolis has been confronted with the same stark reminder facing many other cities: Too many of residents are forced to endure the pandemic without permanent shelter or access to basic services. Covid-19 has made the presence of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness even more visible, and has made the need for cities to address these challenges — in both the short and long term — even more urgent.