PHOENIX — It has been one year since a homeless encampment called The Zone shut down in Phoenix. The city cleared out hundreds of unhoused people after getting a court order with a November 2023 deadline.
At its peak, The Zone had an encampment that consisted of about 1,000 unhoused people. At last count, on Tuesday, October 29, 140 individuals were counted, according to Keys To Change.
The sprawling encampment was close to services for the unhoused population, but it caused some problems for neighboring businesses.
“Issues with urine, feces, trash, and people wandering into our building,” Freddy Brown, PBF Manufacturing President, said.
Brown runs a family-owned business that sells caskets and funeral service supplies, and he was part of the lawsuit that led to the court order last year that The Zone get cleared out.
“As a small community here outside of downtown Phoenix, we kind of get forgotten,” Brown said. “When you live in an area that's only known as The Zone because of the shelter, the city kind of lets it go, and we were witnessing that they were not being proactive in what was going on.”
A year later, Brown says things have changed for the better, but not enough that trash and human waste aren’t still daily problems. He still keeps gates locked and uses security cameras.
“We don't have 1,000 people down here,” Brown said. “Fixed? That's a different question.”
At Old Station Sub Shop, a new owner says he was inspired by the neighborhood’s potential when he bought the restaurant six months ago after The Zone was cleared.
“Still work to be done, but it's still night and day. It's completely different from what it was,” Bill Ellis, Old Station Sub Shop owner, said. “Generally, what I'm seeing is a lot of return customers. Because so many of my customers are walking down here, you know, and they want to feel good.”
However, Circle the City, a non-profit that runs street medicine teams, says it is harder to provide care now that former Zone residents are dispersed.
“We're still trying to reach out to them as best we can to provide medical and behavioral health services,” Dr. Jack Palmer, Outreach and Street Medicine Medical Director, said.
Dr. Palmer says he also witnessed firsthand an emotional toll on the people removed.
“That area was community for them, it was safety for them,” he said. “When you get dispersed like that, it can be very challenging and scary.”
The Office of Homeless Solutions was tasked with clearing the blocks of The Zone.
“We're still trying to get people into services on a daily basis,” Scott Hall, Office of Homeless Solutions Deputy Director, said one year later.
Those include workforce development and mental health programs.
Along with that, the city is investing tens of millions of dollars to bring 790 new shelter beds online in 2024 and 2025.
“It is never at this point, it's over, homelessness is done,” Hall said. “This is just a part of our society that we have to be able to serve.”
