Should parks be a gathering place for homelessness? | Opinion

On Nov. 8, Salt Lake City residents voted on a proposition regarding reconstructing urban parks and trails. Results were to be officially reported on Nov. 22. So far, 71.32% of SLC residents are in favor of this plan, which is expansive in its vision of green spaces for all. However, it conspicuously fails to address individuals experiencing homelessness who currently utilize these spaces for shelter and stability, and how change at the parks will impact them.

The proposed parks plan is funded via an $85 million bond that would also increase property taxes on a median home of $576,000 by around $54 a year. It’s a 20-year plan called “Reimagine Nature: SLC Public Lands Master Plan.” It emphasizes conserving water and clean air, re-creating neighborhood parks, celebrating diversity and creating more access, specifically west of I-15. The Raging Waters amusement park will be replaced with a new Glendale Regional Park. Beloved spots like the Jordan River parkway and Liberty Park will be updated. Each city council district will be guaranteed a park.

Large disparities in access to green spaces exist in Salt Lake. Nicer parks are located east of the highway in areas inhabited by whiter, wealthier Utahns. The air quality is notably worse in the western part of the city during winter inversion. This plan aims to address these disparities and bring equity to air quality and green spaces. Individuals experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake are most likely to notice poor air quality and experience related adverse health effects due to time spent outside, regardless of whether they are sheltered or unsheltered.

It is no secret that individuals experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake are primary park users, seen often at the Jordan River Trail, Liberty Park and City Creek Canyon. They congregate here for access to water, bathrooms, shelter, shade, rest and community. They create a home base to store valuable items. Parks also provide consistent locations for meeting with social services. There is nothing in any “Reimagine Nature” related materials that addresses protocol regarding individuals experiencing homelessness who currently reside or congregate in areas undergoing construction, or what evictions might look like post construction.

However, existing efforts by law enforcement and the parks department to disband encampments and displace unsheltered individuals from these and other popular areas, such as Rio Grande Street, give us a clue as to what may happen.

Along the Jordan River trail, these “evictions” often result in loss of personal property and connection to social services, and have not helped people find more permanent shelter. Rather, they reinforce the cyclical nature of homelessness in city parks and are costly to park management resources and those who lose their belongings. Surveying of City Creek Canyon users revealed that they did not feel there was a need to remove individuals experiencing homelessness from the area, nor was there any perceived damage to the ecosystem due to encampments or day use.

Status quo efforts to discourage encampments are costly to all stakeholders. They are. They are harmful. Those forced to flee do not tend to find more permanent pathways to housing. Eliminating encampments will not eliminate homelessness. This cannot be the future for those residing in our soon-to-be new parks, or for law enforcement and the parks department.

This plan needs to publicly designate resources and protocol beyond disbandment or arrest for those whose routines will be interrupted by the construction at these public spaces. Those staying in parks must be given advance notice and assistance finding a new base. Once the parks are complete, resources should be designated to improve the lives of these individuals, not to police and further disenfranchise them.

Social services are already visiting individuals in need at the parks. Why not bring more food, clothing, housing and health related resources to them in an organized manner? Instead of waging war over who is entitled to park real estate, we could pool existing resources and model our new parks after common spaces like libraries and truly serve all who use them.

If these new parks are to be anchored in social and environmental justice, they need to provide for our city’s most vulnerable inhabitants. Otherwise, we continue our city’s history of using green spaces to exclude and further disenfranchise the marginalized.

Natalie Brown is a first year master of social work student at the University of Utah, and a clinical intern at the Westminster Counseling Center. She currently resides in Salt Lake City, and has spent over 500 nights in the wilderness.

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