Honolulu treats
homeless well;
prices do not

A national survey finds that
high living costs in Hawaii make
the city a hard spot for the needy

By Pete Pichaske
Star-Bulletin

WASHINGTON -- Honolulu treats the homeless better than most big cities, but its high housing costs and lack of creative solutions exacerbate the problem of homelessness, a national survey has concluded.

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty interviewed homeless advocates and studied legal restrictions in 50 American cities, and found that more and more are trying to drive the homeless out of town.

Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Tucson were rated the least hospitable cities.

Honolulu, unlike many cities, has no city-wide restrictions on panhandling or sleeping in public places, the survey found. Hawaii County recently approved a ban on panhandling, but that county was not included in the survey.

While Honolulu officials are working to lower the visibility of the homeless by moving them from airports, parks and beaches, the officials "try to accommodate the homeless people rather than driving them out of the city."

During the recent crackdown on sleeping in Honolulu Airport, for example, the city "worked with service providers to help relocate the homeless people," noted the report.

"Honolulu is not one of the worst cities," said Laurel Weir, the law center's policy director. "But it's not one of the best."

Honolulu's sky-high housing costs make it one of the least affordable of the 50 cities, noted Weir. Thirty-five percent of Honolulu residents cannot afford the fair-market rent for a small apartment, the survey found, a number exceeded only by El Paso, Texas.

"Unless you get subsidized housing in Honolulu, if you're low-income you're not going to be able to afford housing," said Weir.

Nor has Honolulu adopted the "constructive alternatives" to criminalizing homelessness, such as alliances between the police and homeless outreach workers, which have worked elsewhere, she said.

In addition, the report questions a plan to use three barracks at the soon-to-be-closed Barbers Point Naval Air Station as a facility for the homeless.

Barbers is "geographically remote" from the homeless in downtown Honolulu, the report notes, and "it remains to be seen how the homeless people will be encouraged to utilize the site."

But Bill Bass, executive director of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station Redevelopment Commission, said the area near Barbers Point has enough "underprivileged" families to make a shelter there useful. Any problems of remoteness, he said, "can be solved."

The military will give up the base in July, he said, and the homeless facilities should be opened by early next year.

According to the report, Honolulu now has an estimated 3,240 homeless people, 360 emergency shelter beds, and 980 transitional housing slots.