Factors Associated with Homeless Encampment Locations in Anchorage, Alaska

Abstract

Imagine that you are homeless in a major urban area in the United States and for various reasons are “sleeping rough” — that is, in a place not meant for human habitation. You may opt to sleep in your car, if you have one, or in an abandoned building. Or you may resort to sleeping outside, perhaps in a tent or other temporary shelter. What features would you seek in a camp location? What amenities would be important to you? You might think back to your days as a youngster when you may have had the opportunity to go camping in the wild and learned useful tips: don’t camp under a big tree that could blow down in a storm or attract lightning; beware of slopes or avalanche areas; avoid thick woods, heavy underbrush or weeds, and rocky ground; never camp in gullies or dry river beds; and seek a campsite close to a water source but not right on its edge (Jobson, 1974; Howe et al., 1997; Tawrell, 2006). Unfortunately, this knowledge would be of limited use in a built-up urban area because extensive use of most spaces by other people places significant constraints on site selection. Also, some cities lack significant tracts of undeveloped land where wilderness survival skills would be useful. Instead, there are skid rows — places with homeless encampments in plain sight, on city streets, and in vacant lots, urban parks, and parking lots.