The homeless are increasingly pariahs, across San Diego County. The public policy is discourage and displace, rather than meaningfully address fundamental causes. The Featured Image and companion reveal one tactic: Piling jagged rocks where until recently there was grass, punctuated by shrub-like trees.
But the homeless would somewhat frequently hangout or campout on the grass. Honestly, the rocks are more unsightly than the homeless tents. Grass is great! We need more. The city destroys a lovely green space to deter the so-called unhoused? Solve the problem! Don’t create one as band-aid for another. The rocks look weird, and they are weapons. Lots of damage can be done with rocks like these.
Reasonable housing is a big part of the homeless equation. While addiction and mental illness put many people on the street, an increasing number choose doing so as a lifestyle, while many more have little other choice; they cannot afford housing. Perhaps they at one time lived in a rented domicile that the landlord decided to update. I and others unlovingly call the process renovictions. Tenants are evicted so that rents can be substantially raised following the renovation, which might not be much.
These evictees find the market rate for another place to be beyond their means. Lower-income families and the aged—particularly people who lived in the same apartment for a decade or more—are among an increasingly larger segment of the homeless population. What they need is affordable housing, which they rarely can find. Officials say there isn’t enough housing, and they are authorizing new builds at alarming rate. However, few address the underly problem: Overly high rents.
As I write, there are more than 20,000 rentals listed on Zillow across San Diego County. The problem isn’t how many there are but how much they cost. In the city proper, according to Zillow, the average monthly rent is $3,004—$1,900 for a studio; $2,300 for a one-bedroom; and $3,082 for two-bedrooms.
In my neighborhood of University Heights, affordable is way better than a year ago and below Zillow’s averages. This evening, among the 277 units, I see a studio for $1,395, which is quite a bargain. On the same street is a 625-square foot one-bedroom apartment for $1,595. In the building where we lived eight years ago, a 550-square-foot one-bedroom lists for $1,995. These are bargains, comparatively. The first available two-bedroom is $2,150. The priciest UH rental is $8,500 monthly for a more than 1,600-square-foot house.
If rents are too high, and compel some people (including families) to live on the street, why does the city treat them like pests—or criminals. Sweeps clear out encampments, and in the process remove or destroy tents and gear with which these people use to survive.
Then there are the deterrents, like the rocks, which punish the rest of us. A fine green space is gone, and it is replaced with an ugly health hazard. As a friend of mine observed the other night: The rocky space “will only last as long as a worker from Sprouts [tries] to clean it up and [breaks] an ankle”. Already, trash accumulates among the rocks.
Injury awaits someone. And just wait until some mentally disturbed homeless person comes looking to camp, discovers the deterrents, and in deranged anger starts hurling rocks at cars, homes, or people. Hey, just saying.
Both photos come from Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and they are composed as shot. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 50, 1/8000 sec, 23mm (film equivalent). The second’s vitals are the same, except for 1/4000 sec.