California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a plan to build 1,200 tiny homes across four cities in the state, as part of an effort to combat homelessness, according to a report from Just the News.
Los Angeles will receive 500 homes, Sacramento 350, San Jose 200, and San Diego County 150.
Newsom unveiled the state-funded plan during a speech at Cal Expo in California, calling it a small part of a long-term strategy to address homelessness.
The tiny homes will provide short-term temporary housing as communities develop longer-term solutions.
“In that continuum of rapid rehousing and that continuum of prevention, which is part of the original continuum, we have got to provide more options, so what we’re doing is we’re deploying these 1200 plus units,” Newsom commented at the event.
To further support the effort, Newsom also proposed an additional $1 billion in Homeless, Housing, Assistance, and Prevention funding for local communities.
“We have laid out a vision, a strategy, and a plan, and the cities, the counties, and what is referred to as the COCs… have also put numeric goals to make real our goals surrounding accountability,” Newsom said.
While some, including Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones, a Republican from San Diego, discounted the measure, calling it “another band-aid on a crisis that is out of control in California,” others praised Newsom’s approach.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan called the tiny homes a “common sense” solution, pointing to the success of a similar initiative in the city last year, which saw the construction of 400 tiny homes for homeless people.
According to Mahan, this initiative has reduced crime and strain on public services.
Newsom emphasized that the plan to build tiny homes is just one part of a broader strategy to tackle homelessness in California.
He urged communities to work together to find sustainable solutions.
