Homeless Encampment Beside the Tracks Bulldozed with Little Warning
People at Work Had No Time to Retrieve Their Belongings
Amid the recent wave of “renovictions” and skyrocketing rent, it is an understatement to say Santa Barbara has a housing problem. Home to some of the wealthiest people in the country, the coastal county is now the site of countless homeless encampments.
One of the camps, sandwiched between the 4500 block of Hollister Avenue and the railroad tracks, is near the site of yet-to-be-built temporary homes for unhoused community members. The project, known as La Posada, has left residents of the encampments with less than they had before. The cleared area reaches the parking lot for La Posada, said social worker David Hopkins.
On May 18, 2023, bulldozers appeared, and workers issued a 20-minute warning that residents had to gather all their belongings and vacate the premises, or they would be arrested. “It was worse than a tornado,” said Hopkins, who is known as “Hopper” by his clients. “They told everyone to leave, but people had no place to go.” Several of the 15 residents whose shelters were bulldozed were at work when the dozers arrived and were unable to save any of their belongings.
