OPINION: Everyone needs a place

Reflecting on more than a year and a half as mayor of Anchorage, I realize now more than ever that the issue of homelessness touches nearly every aspect of our great city. Whether we are talking parks and recreation, police, fire or our Health Department, homelessness touches every department within the municipality. In the community, we know that homelessness is affecting our workforce, our small businesses, and our image as a top tourist destination. With that understanding, it is essential that we approach it effectively, compassionately, efficiently and quickly.

As a pragmatist, I must admit that as a society, we may never entirely “solve” the homeless challenge. However, I am convinced we can manage it in a way to feel safe on our streets, trail systems and in our neighborhoods. I am confident we can be a city where tourists leave with the overwhelming sense of wanting to return and where our business owners are motivated to invest time, energy, and money in our beautiful city.

To effectively manage our homeless challenge, we must first understand it at a very fundamental level.

Regardless of how someone becomes homeless, each person must have a place to go at every moment of every day. Whether it be in a home, a place of employment, a restaurant, hiking with friends, worshipping at church or exercising at the gym, it really does not matter. Everyone needs a place.

For our fellow citizens who are experiencing homelessness, they too need a place. For some, that place might be a hotel that has been converted into housing, a shelter that has been built to protect them from the elements or a church that has opened its doors to support them. What we must strive for is that their place is not a street corner or under a blue tarp in our parks.

It is my job as mayor to ensure the places our unhoused citizens live are good for both them and our city.

If we are to be a successful and prosperous city going forward, we must effectively manage our homeless situation, and we must do it collaboratively.

This is not an easy or simple task. But it is one we must face together. We need more shelter space. We need more drug and alcohol detox and treatment beds, as well as the trained labor force to staff these facilities. Ultimately, we need more housing development. We need more housing, of all types, across all levels of affordability. It is time for our city to come together to make it easier and more affordable for citizens to build, develop and ultimately live in Anchorage.

This will all cost money, but we will pay a far greater price as a community if we are not successful in this endeavor. Our businesses, especially in downtown and Midtown, will continue to struggle. We will slouch further toward the failed models that are Seattle, Portland and San Diego, among others. Tourists may avoid Anchorage itself as they pass through to the rest of Alaska. Private investment in our city could shrink as more residents consider moving to the Mat-Su area or even out of state.

The good news is that we have accomplished a great deal so far over the past 19 months.

We have successfully marshaled new housing operations being managed by public-private partnerships, with more in the works. The Assembly and I are focused and motivated to deal with this great challenge. While we may differ on some tactics on how to accomplish our shared objectives, we agree that doing nothing is simply unacceptable.

We must provide places for those who need them so that we can once again feel comfortable to use our parks and trails as places to recreate; so that our business owners no longer bear the brunt of dealing with a problem that is collectively ours; so that we restore the Sullivan Arena to its original intent as a sporting and community event center; so that we can get our great city back on the right track.

I am confident we can meet this challenge and be a successful, prosperous and forward-thinking city. But first, everyone needs a place.

Dave Bronson, elected in 2021, is the mayor of Anchorage.

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