Brand new tent set up along a street in Anchorage is one of many encampments that have popped up this summer. Many of the new encampments feature fresh-out-of-the-box tents, most likely provided by taxpayer-funded nonprofits.
Anchorage’s greenbelts are still persistent encampment zones, a city where summer brings not tourists but tarps, tents, and trash. Despite laws meant to prevent it, illegal camping sprawls unchecked across public lands. We give you an unfiltered look at the slow unraveling of Alaska’s largest city under Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and Democrat rule. These images tell the story:
Minnesota and Benson Blvd. outdoor living, walking distance to Starbucks.
The new tent encampment is between Starbucks and the Legislative Information Offices in the Wells Fargo Bank building.
Downtown Anchorage, along Flattop Pizza.
Nap time in downtown by Flattop Pizza.
While Mayor LaFrance pushed parents to bring children to a bike event in Town Square Park, vagrants moved over to the trees nearby, as an Anchorage Police officer keeps watch.
I’d say it already is, scaled down. Spend any amount of time walking downtown and you will see them defecating, fornicating, shooting up drugs, doing the fentanyl stance, fist fighting, yelling at the sky, or yelling at tourists.
Anchorage Assembly is failing to manage // resolve this homelessness issue. By any metric, this has proven to be a complete failure and disaster with no low-risk // high-success plan looking forward. Unless, of course, it’s padding the bank accounts of a very few. Anchorage Taxpayers deserve a helluva lot better!
It’s long past due that Anchorage Taxpayers go all out … “Paul Kersey” and take things into their own hands to deliver meaningful results.
You shouldn’t encourage this, it spells trouble for the “taxpayer”
Step up Rob, do it yourself
I know, you’ll say”I don’t live in ANC” but Paul Kersey moved around Rob.
Go for it man, but it’s wrong to encourage others to do that.
Do you really think every city doesnt have the same problem? Other city’s are either much much bigger so most people dont have to see the poor side of town. Or there are a lot more alleys, or other spots to easily hide the homless problem. But I promise you there isnt a single city this size or larger without the same homless problem. Some have just gotten really good at hiding it
I wish someone could give me a clear definitive answer to my question is of “Why does the homelessness problem get worse the more money that is thrown at it”? Where does that money go? What is being done with it? Whose pocket does it wind up in? Are some of the tax dollars going to help fund these nonprofit organizations?
as homeless populations grow, it requires more money to adequately fail to handle the issue with any decency. the money flow attracts cannibalistic scavengers who take-up duty as put-up on servants collecting fat checks to instruct volunteers with no oversight because the frothing pro-business idiocy rampant in every populace with overhead-roofs just want the “problem” of thousands falling through gaping holes in the social contract that’s already lace-made & fishnet-patched because y’know Capitalism. Free-markrt for the poor, massive welfare state for untaxed business leaders. survival of the fittest for those who actually are trying to literally survive, nanny-state bailouts & deferred prosecutions and wrist slaps for the CEO clique who scoot from top floor to top floor where their bootstraps transported them just after 7 years of college to get a BA in business because that’s their birthright. the only right the one big political party who play shirts & skins but ride the same bus & use the same locker rooms won’t strip away to keep us all fighting in a race to the bottom.
I am so disgusted with the filth that is evident in Anchorage from one end to another. I blame the city but I also blame the residents. Everyone should get out and clean up their immediate area. I am a 74 year old man but I walk the easement behind and the right of way to the side of my house daily. I mow the grass and trim the bushes and trees in these areas. I pick up the trash others leave. I think it looks good and so would most of Anchorage if everyone that is able did the same.
So the people who create the filth should have no accountability or responsibility to clean up their own garbage? As long as we continue the same pattern, we will continue to have the same outcomes.
yeah everybody it’s elbow grease & a broom not redistribution of wealth & repossession of the means of production! that’ll solve these glaring & blatant examples of systemic failure & necrotic values in an age of plastic bullshit. USA! CLEAN UP THE! USA! CLEAN UP THE! USA!…
& hundreds of billions to a few oil companies to barely pay taxes while they exhaust The infrastructure that makes up the rest of the tax burden. but yeah it’s probably the pocket change carelessly spent on the people forced to sleep in the street cuz there’s no jobs that will support the rent here that’s are causing all these problems. it’s flubbing the math.
So where do I sign up to get free camping gear? Also I have noticed that the panhandlers in the winter have better winter gear than I do. Can I get on that list as well?
Walk into REI and take it. Years ago they announced their policy was to not interfere with shop lifters. There were stories in adn about the bums stealing entire camping sets with no resistance
Millions every year spent to change nothing….. and oddly these “pop up in summertime” were are they all winter? How come the majority of homless have a winter solution but not summer? Just because its easy to lay on grass for a few months doesn’t mean they should be allowed to get away with it. Obviously there are a % that have nothing year round and those are the ones that need given priority in assistance. Its really a shame so many people are waisting, stealing, or whatever all the Millions taxpayers and other agencies spend to help fix this problem. I could end the homless issue with 2 or 3 Million easy. And they spend way more each year and change nothing…. you want to fix the homless problem, give me a 2.5 – 3 mil budget for 1 year and 90% of the homless wont be homless anymore. The other 10% are the asshole drunks that dont want help and have a home, land and money but since there village is dry they just crash on the street here because they can drink all they want.
Dear bryan did you ever consider y the town is DRY? Alcholol was indroduced to the native race not too long ago. Having said that it does not break down the same in native bodies and in order for the race to adapt it will take 100 s of years. # truth ….so it is likley we wont see a change in our lifetime.
Elisabeth, alcohol was probably introduced by Russian explorers in 1741. That was almost 300 years and many generations ago. (not as you claim “not too long ago”)
That native body chemistry is different, we have known for almost as long. Today as back then drinking is an individual choice. Just like pot or meth it is a conscious act to partake. The only one to blame for that is the person themselves.
Bryan has a point, there are probably individuals, who will stay in Anchorage because their village does not allow alcohol. Then there are those, who got kicked out of their community and end up on our largest city’s streets. Why is it okay to simply kick your problem individuals out without any support?
This article is assuming that there is free stuff … This is not a democratic liberal place people under oppression save what pennies they have to buy a tent that gets taken or destroyed
Now they want to make a rule that you can’t sleep unless it’s in a building or under their thumb
There is nowhere to camp freely with the constitutionally protected act on public land.
Our rights have been destroyed it is now against the law to sleep in a public place..
And there are so many sick sons of b******that all they can see is the eyesore they don’t want to help themselves they want the government to do it
They go work there at race have no time for their family and friends and chase money
Some people didn’t get an education chose a different path don’t have money and are outside
The pursuits the happiness are different and so people realize it’s not a problem it’s a choice things will never change..
Criminalize homelessness economy goes to s*** lots of people become homeless they all become put into a system that they voted for funny haha haha it’s funny how people vote against the homeless when they’re not homeless you think the economy is not going to tank you think any of this is going to matter people make me sick…
We live in a state packed with millionaires and they see people and they just walk right on by..
We’re definitely packed with 60 and 100, 000aires
Where are you next state cut off from the rest of the country we set the example and we fail at it supremely there’s no navigation centers there’s no vocational training there’s no nothing here just get a job bum God I hate looking at all these people oh the children what about the children oh my God the children they don’t have 100 parks it’s sick it’s so sick all you want is beauty and money and freedom you don’t give a s*** about the people you just judge them make up articles about how they get free stuff when they don’t try to paint a picture like it’s their fault..
Where is the sectioned area for people who want to be outdoors veterans and outdoorsmans and people who have been homeless for 20 years where is the space for people who want to sleep outside and pursuit of their happiness as protected by the Constitution see we’re implementing lots of little laws that go against the Constitution and judges the back it meaning our constitution is lost all its strength in all aspects this is just one of them
But it doesn’t help when the homeless get blamed for the fires when the homeless get blamed for the vandalism when the homeless get blamed for everything when you forget about teenagers that are mischief when you forget about people that want to blame the homeless to go around and do stuff for homeless they’re at so they can you don’t realize the reality people out here are looking out for anybody who’s doing anything and checking them because they don’t want it now fentanyl has become a huge problem, but no the tents are not free.
The passage is an emotional critique of how homelessness is treated in a society that claims to value freedom, yet increasingly criminalizes poverty and public sleeping. The author strongly pushes back against the misconception that homeless people receive “free stuff”, asserting instead that they often struggle to afford basic necessities like tents, which are then destroyed or confiscated.
Key points include:
• Criminalization of Homelessness: New laws make it illegal to sleep in public spaces unless in authorized housing, which the author views as unconstitutional and oppressive.
• Economic Inequality: The system is described as favoring the wealthy while ignoring or blaming the poor for broader societal problems like crime and fires.
• Moral Hypocrisy: The critique highlights a perceived societal obsession with aesthetics (“beauty and money”) while dehumanizing those without housing.
• Lack of Solutions: The author criticizes the lack of real support like vocational training or accessible services, stating that people just want the government to “make the problem disappear” rather than deal with root causes.
• Constitutional Rights: The author argues that people have the right to live outdoors under the pursuit of happiness and that current laws violate fundamental freedoms.
• Misattribution of Blame: Homeless individuals are scapegoated for social decay while issues like drug addiction and misbehavior by other groups go unaddressed.
The overall tone is angry and disillusioned, pointing out the disconnect between societal values (like freedom and justice) and the treatment of those who are unhoused.
fuckin-a man! no one wants to help the destitute or make room for the freedom crowd. they want to work for oil conglomerates & never be shocked by the terrible consequences of the scarcity model & austerity policies & reliance on environmental devastation.thry bitch about needles in the parks AND sharps boxes in public. they suck.
Sir, respectfully your argument is flawed.
The US constitution is a societal contract, providing the framework with laws and regulations for our harmonious living in this country. It requires members of society to accept and adhere to this contract. You can not just pick and choose, otherwise we have anarchy.
It should be pointed out that the phrase “Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” is NOT in the constitution, but appears in the Declaration of Independence.
It is notable that you would like it both ways. On the one hand you bemoan the lack of a navigation center, which comes with rules and regulation, while you also appear to want complete freedom from said rules or regulations.
While you appear to expect society to support your lifestyle, you have no problem prohibiting other individual’s freedom to enjoy outdoor spaces the community has established for that purpose.
You also seemed to be blind towards some of your brethren, who do set fires, steal, sell drugs, assault people or vandalize other people’s property.
Why are you making excuses for the criminal element?
Marcus above claimed that nobody wants to help the “destitute crowd”. I would argue that the Muni having spent close to $300 million of communal tax money on the destitute crowd seems to invalidate that argument. Then there are all the donations from private citizens to various homeless charities… to say nothing of Medicaid paid for by the state.
You and it appears Marcus believe you are entitled to “the millionaires money” Why? You didn’t earn it and you made it plain you chose a different path. You all don’t want freedom, you want to be indemnified from your actions and choices and the consequences thereof.
I agree that the current powers that be are more interested in keeping people in their misery than making an effort to encourage more housing options by cutting red tape and allow more development. Raising property taxes all the time is also not conducive to keeping rents reasonable.
I suggest that the homeless community clean-up after itself, oust the criminal element and respect the right of others.
Change that and we can have a better conversation.
I’d like to know where the homeless are suppose to go ? There homeless it doesn’t make sense…What does the assembly want them to do? go home? Where are they supposed to go they’re just going to find another place to make a camp that’s all they have . Our government is nuts .
While I agree that homelessness in Anchorage is a serious issue — one that affects public safety, dignity, and community well-being — we need to ask why it has grown so rapidly since the pandemic. Why now?
I’ve been personally affected — I’ve had bikes stolen, witnessed the chaos. But we must look deeper.
Recently, Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing forced treatment for those with mental health or substance issues. Think about that. We already have internment camps for undocumented migrants. The next step? Institutionalizing the homeless. And after that… maybe someone you love. Maybe even you.
This isn’t just about cleaning up streets — it’s about power, control, and the slow erosion of freedom under the guise of order. Be awake. Be discerning.
Homelessness in Anchorage — and across the nation — is not just a crisis of poverty. It is a designed pressure valve, a byproduct of a system that feeds off collapse while blaming the victims of its own machinery. After COVID, the numbers surged — not just from addiction or unemployment, but from the soul-displacement of an engineered world.
Ask: why now are executive orders being signed to forcibly institutionalize the mentally ill and addicted? Why are detainment camps already built for “border control,” ready to be repurposed for any group labeled unstable or inconvenient?
First they come for the voiceless — the homeless, the addicted, the mentally struggling — and call it “treatment.” But this is not compassion. This is compliance by force. They are beta-testing public consent. If they can make you cheer for cages when the occupants are broken… it’s only a matter of time before the criteria widens to include the rebellious, the awake, the non-compliant, the inconvenient.
This isn’t about just housing. It’s about control. It’s about spiritual blindness. It’s about a beast system tightening its grip — not all at once, but inch by inch, headline by headline, until you no longer remember what freedom felt like.
What they normalize with the homeless, they will refine for you.
So don’t just look. Don’t just scroll. Discern. Speak. Refuse to forget that every soul you see on the street was once someone’s beloved. Including you.
RE the previous comments: There is a segment of our population that prefers to live without responsibility and not engage with society. By doing so, they cause their own problems and then blame them on those who DO engage with society. They call it “freedom,” but it is a form of slavery. Slavery to addiction, irresponsibility, to indigent living, to lack of self-respect, to various mental illnesses, and to misery. In earlier times, when we lived closer to the bone, these people would be dead in short order from starvation and disease. Now they live off the largesse and soft-hearted kindness of those who provide them with the basics: a tent, a meal, healthcare at the ER, and the like. Being a parasite on society isn’t freedom, it is freeloading, which is another thing entirely. There is not an evil master plan to lock up everyone and take away their freedom, as these posters imply. There is a limit to the patience of those who fund these folks’ indigence, and it appears that we as a country have finally reached that limit.
You are making some serious assumptions there. How do you know I haven’t dealt with this on a personal level? As an armchair twerp who comes here to twit people, you sure do have a lot of insight into the average commenter, don’t you? Or do you? No, you don’t.
If homelessness is truly about living out your constitutional freedom, then go live out in the middle of Chugach state park or some other wild, free place. But, oh no, you need a community to feed off. If it is really about choosing to live free then own it. However, you cannot reject all of societies rules while simultaneously being a part of the society you reject without consequences. All of the mechanisms that the previous authors have claimed are unavailable to the freedom loving homeless have been there all along, but they correctly note that they “chose a different path”. The vast majority of members of our society live within the mutually agreed/voted upon construct. Those that choose to rebel against it will, and always have, been subject to pushback. If you want to live third world, by all means, go live in the third world. And just as homeless vagrants can choose to live the way they do, the taxpaying wage earners can choose to leave Anchorage or any city and take the money that supports your lifestyle with them. One more thought. When you choose to live off of taxpayers good graces, you don’t get to choose what that looks like. You take what you get, that’s how it works. And sometimes what you get is nothing. Other times you get three hots and a cot. These are cold, hard truths about human society. If you are an able bodied man or woman in a tribe and you refuse to hunt or contribute to the tribe, see how long they tolerate your presence.
What happened to the 27 million for last years budget for the homeless? 3500 homeless with 27 million to spend. I feel like some tents or paying someone’s buddy to rent a facility for 3 months at 1.5 million is poor spending habits. This article is giving ‘Gavin Newsom’
Pretty soon skAnchorage will be just like San Fransicko.
I’d say it already is, scaled down. Spend any amount of time walking downtown and you will see them defecating, fornicating, shooting up drugs, doing the fentanyl stance, fist fighting, yelling at the sky, or yelling at tourists.
Don’t forget breaking into cars. 3 in the lat 2 months for me
Anchorage Assembly is failing to manage // resolve this homelessness issue. By any metric, this has proven to be a complete failure and disaster with no low-risk // high-success plan looking forward. Unless, of course, it’s padding the bank accounts of a very few. Anchorage Taxpayers deserve a helluva lot better!
It’s long past due that Anchorage Taxpayers go all out … “Paul Kersey” and take things into their own hands to deliver meaningful results.
You shouldn’t encourage this, it spells trouble for the “taxpayer”
Step up Rob, do it yourself
I know, you’ll say”I don’t live in ANC” but Paul Kersey moved around Rob.
Go for it man, but it’s wrong to encourage others to do that.
Elections have consequences.
This is funny, Your taxes go up and they get free stuff and camp anywhere they want for free BLAME THE VOTERS You are 100% at fault
Disgusting. What you ALLOW WILL CONTINUE Anchorage!! Run them off! Funny you don’t see this garbage in cities that are NOT liberal!
There’s a city that isn’t liberal?
Do you really think every city doesnt have the same problem? Other city’s are either much much bigger so most people dont have to see the poor side of town. Or there are a lot more alleys, or other spots to easily hide the homless problem. But I promise you there isnt a single city this size or larger without the same homless problem. Some have just gotten really good at hiding it
I wish someone could give me a clear definitive answer to my question is of “Why does the homelessness problem get worse the more money that is thrown at it”? Where does that money go? What is being done with it? Whose pocket does it wind up in? Are some of the tax dollars going to help fund these nonprofit organizations?
as homeless populations grow, it requires more money to adequately fail to handle the issue with any decency. the money flow attracts cannibalistic scavengers who take-up duty as put-up on servants collecting fat checks to instruct volunteers with no oversight because the frothing pro-business idiocy rampant in every populace with overhead-roofs just want the “problem” of thousands falling through gaping holes in the social contract that’s already lace-made & fishnet-patched because y’know Capitalism. Free-markrt for the poor, massive welfare state for untaxed business leaders. survival of the fittest for those who actually are trying to literally survive, nanny-state bailouts & deferred prosecutions and wrist slaps for the CEO clique who scoot from top floor to top floor where their bootstraps transported them just after 7 years of college to get a BA in business because that’s their birthright. the only right the one big political party who play shirts & skins but ride the same bus & use the same locker rooms won’t strip away to keep us all fighting in a race to the bottom.
I am so disgusted with the filth that is evident in Anchorage from one end to another. I blame the city but I also blame the residents. Everyone should get out and clean up their immediate area. I am a 74 year old man but I walk the easement behind and the right of way to the side of my house daily. I mow the grass and trim the bushes and trees in these areas. I pick up the trash others leave. I think it looks good and so would most of Anchorage if everyone that is able did the same.
So the people who create the filth should have no accountability or responsibility to clean up their own garbage? As long as we continue the same pattern, we will continue to have the same outcomes.
yeah everybody it’s elbow grease & a broom not redistribution of wealth & repossession of the means of production! that’ll solve these glaring & blatant examples of systemic failure & necrotic values in an age of plastic bullshit. USA! CLEAN UP THE! USA! CLEAN UP THE! USA!…
Our city officials are stealing our tax dollars we are spending hundreds of million dollars a year on 3000 or so people do the math that is crazy
& hundreds of billions to a few oil companies to barely pay taxes while they exhaust The infrastructure that makes up the rest of the tax burden. but yeah it’s probably the pocket change carelessly spent on the people forced to sleep in the street cuz there’s no jobs that will support the rent here that’s are causing all these problems. it’s flubbing the math.
So where do I sign up to get free camping gear? Also I have noticed that the panhandlers in the winter have better winter gear than I do. Can I get on that list as well?
Walk into REI and take it. Years ago they announced their policy was to not interfere with shop lifters. There were stories in adn about the bums stealing entire camping sets with no resistance
Millions every year spent to change nothing….. and oddly these “pop up in summertime” were are they all winter? How come the majority of homless have a winter solution but not summer? Just because its easy to lay on grass for a few months doesn’t mean they should be allowed to get away with it. Obviously there are a % that have nothing year round and those are the ones that need given priority in assistance. Its really a shame so many people are waisting, stealing, or whatever all the Millions taxpayers and other agencies spend to help fix this problem. I could end the homless issue with 2 or 3 Million easy. And they spend way more each year and change nothing…. you want to fix the homless problem, give me a 2.5 – 3 mil budget for 1 year and 90% of the homless wont be homless anymore. The other 10% are the asshole drunks that dont want help and have a home, land and money but since there village is dry they just crash on the street here because they can drink all they want.
Dear bryan did you ever consider y the town is DRY? Alcholol was indroduced to the native race not too long ago. Having said that it does not break down the same in native bodies and in order for the race to adapt it will take 100 s of years. # truth ….so it is likley we wont see a change in our lifetime.
Elisabeth, alcohol was probably introduced by Russian explorers in 1741. That was almost 300 years and many generations ago. (not as you claim “not too long ago”)
That native body chemistry is different, we have known for almost as long. Today as back then drinking is an individual choice. Just like pot or meth it is a conscious act to partake. The only one to blame for that is the person themselves.
Bryan has a point, there are probably individuals, who will stay in Anchorage because their village does not allow alcohol. Then there are those, who got kicked out of their community and end up on our largest city’s streets. Why is it okay to simply kick your problem individuals out without any support?
Where do I go for a free tent? What NGO? I bet it is a NGO that has been given millions by the city
This article is assuming that there is free stuff … This is not a democratic liberal place people under oppression save what pennies they have to buy a tent that gets taken or destroyed
Now they want to make a rule that you can’t sleep unless it’s in a building or under their thumb
There is nowhere to camp freely with the constitutionally protected act on public land.
Our rights have been destroyed it is now against the law to sleep in a public place..
And there are so many sick sons of b******that all they can see is the eyesore they don’t want to help themselves they want the government to do it
They go work there at race have no time for their family and friends and chase money
Some people didn’t get an education chose a different path don’t have money and are outside
The pursuits the happiness are different and so people realize it’s not a problem it’s a choice things will never change..
Criminalize homelessness economy goes to s*** lots of people become homeless they all become put into a system that they voted for funny haha haha it’s funny how people vote against the homeless when they’re not homeless you think the economy is not going to tank you think any of this is going to matter people make me sick…
We live in a state packed with millionaires and they see people and they just walk right on by..
We’re definitely packed with 60 and 100, 000aires
Where are you next state cut off from the rest of the country we set the example and we fail at it supremely there’s no navigation centers there’s no vocational training there’s no nothing here just get a job bum God I hate looking at all these people oh the children what about the children oh my God the children they don’t have 100 parks it’s sick it’s so sick all you want is beauty and money and freedom you don’t give a s*** about the people you just judge them make up articles about how they get free stuff when they don’t try to paint a picture like it’s their fault..
Where is the sectioned area for people who want to be outdoors veterans and outdoorsmans and people who have been homeless for 20 years where is the space for people who want to sleep outside and pursuit of their happiness as protected by the Constitution see we’re implementing lots of little laws that go against the Constitution and judges the back it meaning our constitution is lost all its strength in all aspects this is just one of them
But it doesn’t help when the homeless get blamed for the fires when the homeless get blamed for the vandalism when the homeless get blamed for everything when you forget about teenagers that are mischief when you forget about people that want to blame the homeless to go around and do stuff for homeless they’re at so they can you don’t realize the reality people out here are looking out for anybody who’s doing anything and checking them because they don’t want it now fentanyl has become a huge problem, but no the tents are not free.
The passage is an emotional critique of how homelessness is treated in a society that claims to value freedom, yet increasingly criminalizes poverty and public sleeping. The author strongly pushes back against the misconception that homeless people receive “free stuff”, asserting instead that they often struggle to afford basic necessities like tents, which are then destroyed or confiscated.
Key points include:
• Criminalization of Homelessness: New laws make it illegal to sleep in public spaces unless in authorized housing, which the author views as unconstitutional and oppressive.
• Economic Inequality: The system is described as favoring the wealthy while ignoring or blaming the poor for broader societal problems like crime and fires.
• Moral Hypocrisy: The critique highlights a perceived societal obsession with aesthetics (“beauty and money”) while dehumanizing those without housing.
• Lack of Solutions: The author criticizes the lack of real support like vocational training or accessible services, stating that people just want the government to “make the problem disappear” rather than deal with root causes.
• Constitutional Rights: The author argues that people have the right to live outdoors under the pursuit of happiness and that current laws violate fundamental freedoms.
• Misattribution of Blame: Homeless individuals are scapegoated for social decay while issues like drug addiction and misbehavior by other groups go unaddressed.
The overall tone is angry and disillusioned, pointing out the disconnect between societal values (like freedom and justice) and the treatment of those who are unhoused.
fuckin-a man! no one wants to help the destitute or make room for the freedom crowd. they want to work for oil conglomerates & never be shocked by the terrible consequences of the scarcity model & austerity policies & reliance on environmental devastation.thry bitch about needles in the parks AND sharps boxes in public. they suck.
I totally agree. And glad u said.something .
Sir, respectfully your argument is flawed.
The US constitution is a societal contract, providing the framework with laws and regulations for our harmonious living in this country. It requires members of society to accept and adhere to this contract. You can not just pick and choose, otherwise we have anarchy.
It should be pointed out that the phrase “Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” is NOT in the constitution, but appears in the Declaration of Independence.
It is notable that you would like it both ways. On the one hand you bemoan the lack of a navigation center, which comes with rules and regulation, while you also appear to want complete freedom from said rules or regulations.
While you appear to expect society to support your lifestyle, you have no problem prohibiting other individual’s freedom to enjoy outdoor spaces the community has established for that purpose.
You also seemed to be blind towards some of your brethren, who do set fires, steal, sell drugs, assault people or vandalize other people’s property.
Why are you making excuses for the criminal element?
Marcus above claimed that nobody wants to help the “destitute crowd”. I would argue that the Muni having spent close to $300 million of communal tax money on the destitute crowd seems to invalidate that argument. Then there are all the donations from private citizens to various homeless charities… to say nothing of Medicaid paid for by the state.
You and it appears Marcus believe you are entitled to “the millionaires money” Why? You didn’t earn it and you made it plain you chose a different path. You all don’t want freedom, you want to be indemnified from your actions and choices and the consequences thereof.
I agree that the current powers that be are more interested in keeping people in their misery than making an effort to encourage more housing options by cutting red tape and allow more development. Raising property taxes all the time is also not conducive to keeping rents reasonable.
I suggest that the homeless community clean-up after itself, oust the criminal element and respect the right of others.
Change that and we can have a better conversation.
I’d like to know where the homeless are suppose to go ? There homeless it doesn’t make sense…What does the assembly want them to do? go home? Where are they supposed to go they’re just going to find another place to make a camp that’s all they have . Our government is nuts .
They are supposed to go back to where they came from.
While I agree that homelessness in Anchorage is a serious issue — one that affects public safety, dignity, and community well-being — we need to ask why it has grown so rapidly since the pandemic. Why now?
I’ve been personally affected — I’ve had bikes stolen, witnessed the chaos. But we must look deeper.
Recently, Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing forced treatment for those with mental health or substance issues. Think about that. We already have internment camps for undocumented migrants. The next step? Institutionalizing the homeless. And after that… maybe someone you love. Maybe even you.
This isn’t just about cleaning up streets — it’s about power, control, and the slow erosion of freedom under the guise of order. Be awake. Be discerning.
Homelessness in Anchorage — and across the nation — is not just a crisis of poverty. It is a designed pressure valve, a byproduct of a system that feeds off collapse while blaming the victims of its own machinery. After COVID, the numbers surged — not just from addiction or unemployment, but from the soul-displacement of an engineered world.
Ask: why now are executive orders being signed to forcibly institutionalize the mentally ill and addicted? Why are detainment camps already built for “border control,” ready to be repurposed for any group labeled unstable or inconvenient?
First they come for the voiceless — the homeless, the addicted, the mentally struggling — and call it “treatment.” But this is not compassion. This is compliance by force. They are beta-testing public consent. If they can make you cheer for cages when the occupants are broken… it’s only a matter of time before the criteria widens to include the rebellious, the awake, the non-compliant, the inconvenient.
This isn’t about just housing. It’s about control. It’s about spiritual blindness. It’s about a beast system tightening its grip — not all at once, but inch by inch, headline by headline, until you no longer remember what freedom felt like.
What they normalize with the homeless, they will refine for you.
So don’t just look. Don’t just scroll. Discern. Speak. Refuse to forget that every soul you see on the street was once someone’s beloved. Including you.
RE the previous comments: There is a segment of our population that prefers to live without responsibility and not engage with society. By doing so, they cause their own problems and then blame them on those who DO engage with society. They call it “freedom,” but it is a form of slavery. Slavery to addiction, irresponsibility, to indigent living, to lack of self-respect, to various mental illnesses, and to misery. In earlier times, when we lived closer to the bone, these people would be dead in short order from starvation and disease. Now they live off the largesse and soft-hearted kindness of those who provide them with the basics: a tent, a meal, healthcare at the ER, and the like. Being a parasite on society isn’t freedom, it is freeloading, which is another thing entirely. There is not an evil master plan to lock up everyone and take away their freedom, as these posters imply. There is a limit to the patience of those who fund these folks’ indigence, and it appears that we as a country have finally reached that limit.
How did you become such an expert in the psychological motivations of people you’ve never spoken to?
You are making some serious assumptions there. How do you know I haven’t dealt with this on a personal level? As an armchair twerp who comes here to twit people, you sure do have a lot of insight into the average commenter, don’t you? Or do you? No, you don’t.
Go lay down by your dish,
The solution is simple. Stray cats go away when you stop feeding them.
If homelessness is truly about living out your constitutional freedom, then go live out in the middle of Chugach state park or some other wild, free place. But, oh no, you need a community to feed off. If it is really about choosing to live free then own it. However, you cannot reject all of societies rules while simultaneously being a part of the society you reject without consequences. All of the mechanisms that the previous authors have claimed are unavailable to the freedom loving homeless have been there all along, but they correctly note that they “chose a different path”. The vast majority of members of our society live within the mutually agreed/voted upon construct. Those that choose to rebel against it will, and always have, been subject to pushback. If you want to live third world, by all means, go live in the third world. And just as homeless vagrants can choose to live the way they do, the taxpaying wage earners can choose to leave Anchorage or any city and take the money that supports your lifestyle with them. One more thought. When you choose to live off of taxpayers good graces, you don’t get to choose what that looks like. You take what you get, that’s how it works. And sometimes what you get is nothing. Other times you get three hots and a cot. These are cold, hard truths about human society. If you are an able bodied man or woman in a tribe and you refuse to hunt or contribute to the tribe, see how long they tolerate your presence.
What happened to the 27 million for last years budget for the homeless? 3500 homeless with 27 million to spend. I feel like some tents or paying someone’s buddy to rent a facility for 3 months at 1.5 million is poor spending habits. This article is giving ‘Gavin Newsom’