7 May 18th–May 24th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | Dismantling the Zone Phoenix starts clearing encampment without enough shelter space. BY KATYA SCHWENK T he sun had barely risen on May 10 as city staff, service workers and street cleaning teams descended on a stretch of Ninth Avenue between Washington and Jefferson streets. The short city block is one of many in Phoenix’s sprawling home- less encampment, the Zone, and the first to be cleaned out by the city. Before the cleanup, some 35 people were camping on this downtown street. But by 9 a.m., most tents were taken down, and cleaning teams had started to remove the remnants of human life. The city has said that the homeless will not be allowed to return. Where will they go? The sweep was the first step in the city’s plan to clear out the entire Zone, where people have been allowed to camp semi- permanently on the streets for years. The most recent estimate put the total number of people living there at about 700, but that number previously has reached nearly 1,000. The city’s decision to force out people living in the Zone is the result of a judge’s order. In August 2022, a group of 15 prop- erty owners in the Zone sued the city over conditions in the neighborhood, arguing that the city was violating state law by allowing the encampment on city sidewalks. In March, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney gave the city until July 10 to clear out the area entirely. The 35 people who were forced to move on May 10 were all offered beds in shelters or hotels, city officials said. “We have had the ability to offer everybody a bed,” Scott Hall, deputy director of the city’s Office of Homeless Solutions, said during a press conference. “It’s an array of services.” But there aren’t enough shelter beds in Phoenix to house all 700 people who are facing imminent displacement from the Zone, Hall said. The four main shelters in the city were at 97% capacity as of April, recent data showed. “That’s why the city’s putting all these resources and effort toward trying to open new beds,” Hall said. Not everyone accepted an offer for a shelter bed on May 10. Antoin Jackson told Phoenix New Times that he had camped on this stretch of Ninth Avenue for about eight months with his dog. “I told them, you know, I’d sure like a hotel room,” he said. But city staff said there were none available and instead offered him a bed at the Washington Relief Shelter. “I’d been at that shelter,” Jackson said, adding that he didn’t want to go back. Jackson plans to move to another block in the Zone — for now. ‘We’re just waiting to hear’ A man and woman who had been camping on the block — and who requested that New Times not use their names — said they were hoping to get into the Washington Relief Shelter. They said they preferred it to Central Arizona Shelter Services, the larger shelter near the Zone. But the city had not yet confirmed where the couple were headed. “They said they have our names down, and we’re just waiting to hear,” the woman said, watching outreach staff take down tents as the press milled about. Her own belongings were now in city storage, she said. Meanwhile, another Ninth Avenue camper, who provided just his first name, Don, said he expected to spend at least a night at CASS. Now 64, Don said he had been homeless for the last two years after losing his job as a truck driver due to health problems. “I really don’t know what [the city’s] plans are for us. We all know there aren’t enough places for us to go, and the | NEWS | O’Hara Shipe O’Hara Shipe Top: A tearful Zone resident stuffs her belongings into a shopping cart as a member of the press looks on. She was unable to take everything with her to a shelter and had to part with some possessions. Left: City officials donned hazmat suits, gloves, and masks while removing blankets and clothing from a vacated tent. Right: Don, a former truck driver, said he has lived in the Zone for two years. Although he plans to move into a shelter, he is not looking forward to it. “I’ve been at the Washington [Relief] Shelter before. Bullfrog [my friend] and I went and made it as far as the parking lot before we left. It’s awful there and much worse than life here,” he said. O’Hara Shipe >> p 8
