CM Doan defeats nonprofits’ attempts to slow-walk answers on homelessness concerns

Local housing nonprofits may be trying to derail Mayor Mahan's Reform Agenda, especially when it comes to innovative solutions to homelessness, but new D7 CM Bien Doan is having none of it. In his 2.28.23 memo to council (which was approved), Doan proficiently called for a muscular, cost-effective transitional-housing approach to local homelessness, excerpted below.

According to the surveys, homelessness is the number one concern for residents in San Jose right now. Permanent housing solutions are just too slow to build and cost around $1 Million per apartment unit. This means too many people are suffering in the streets waiting for help and every day the cost of building their housing continues to skyrocket, meaning the system is unsustainable. Additionally, for every one person we house, three more become homeless. There must be a better solution, and there is.

Proposal #1 – Housing Our Unhoused Immediately

I propose we develop campus-like living environments as recommended in the transitional committee report, but we do so with prefabricated sprung-like structures. The same systems our soldiers use as dormitories overseas have proven to be a huge asset in helping the unhoused in cities like San Diego, San Francisco, and Hawaii. 

Our own convention center here in San Jose uses this technology. Sprung-like structures can go from nothing to a complete building ready for habitation in less than a month and they can house up to 200 people per structure, getting our residents in most need out of the elements and into safety. Additional prefabricated structures can be used to create mental health facilities, medical centers, classrooms, and other social services. 

With just a few of these buildings next to each other, we could easily house 20% of our unhoused population immediately, and with plenty of money left over to keep them out of homelessness for good.

Read Doan's full memo here.

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Image by Bien Doan for D7