The tent city in Sacramento, California’s capital, could become more permanent shelters for the city’s homeless with plumbing and other services, according to Kevin Johnson, the city’s mayor.  Improving sanitary conditions and helping to make the growing number of improvised structures would surely be a welcome change, but I would think money and time would be better spent by creating more affordable housing from the cities existing vacant buildings.  There is also talk that the tent city, recently featured on Oprah’s special on homelessness and foreclosures, may be dismantled by the city:

While planning to improve the living conditions for those already on the streets is a vital part of addressing homelessness, ultimately we need to work towards eliminating the circumstances that lead to so many people losing their homes.
takepart by learning more about homelssness and what you can do to help from the National Coalition for the Homeless, and check out the action page for the upcoming film The Soloist.