To no surprise, the homeless community is growing all across Southern California, and the latest area to notice the increase is Newport Beach. More specifically, the bus station.
“It is growing exponentially,” Ruth Sanchez Kobayashi said, a resident who frequently counts the tents surrounding the Newport Transportation Center.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the homeless population in Newport went from 39 in 2017, to 64 at the beginning of this year. And it's not slowing down...
The Orange County Sheriff's Department is assigned to patrol the bus station, and OCTA said they recently removed some of the benches to help provide more transparency.
“The issue of encampments in public spaces and homeless is one that every city in the county is working to address, and there isn’t one single agency responsible,” OCTA spokesman Eric Carpenter said. “Nearly every public agency in the county is impacted, and resolving issues requires a collaborative effort. OCTA is no exception.”
The Newport Transportation Center sees about 700 passengers every day.
“I would encourage you to do something creative about taking that magnet away,” Sanchez Kobayashi added.
Read more on the L.A. Times.