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Tacoma Criminalizes Encampments Near Homeless Shelters and Waterways

Natalie Bicknell Argerious - October 12, 2022
All of Downtown Tacoma falls into a “buffer zone” in which camping and storing of belongings by people experiencing homelessness is prohibited starting November 14th, 2022. (Credit: Kaizer Rangwala, Creative Commons)

In mid-September Urbanist reporter Kevin Le wrote about the Tacoma City Council’s plan to create 10-block buffer zones around the city’s nine emergency homeless shelters in which encampments and the storing of belonging by unhoused people would be prohibited on public property. At the time of publication, the introduction of the ordinance was delayed for further review in part because of complaints from organizations such as Tacoma Mutual Aid Collective.