Oakland's Homeless Community Knows How to End the City's Housing Crisis. Will Its Leaders Listen?


The city of Oakland and local activists use a similar response to the problem – building encampments of "tiny houses" – but there are critical differences between the two programs. An activist group called The Village has taken over parkland or vacant lots to build 23 tiny structures at the heart of self-governed communities that activists hope alleviate homelessness in the short term and lead toward permanent solutions. The city has torn down most of The Village's structures and erected its own two-person sheds in camps governed by the city, an approach that has had mixed success for the people it served.

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