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San Jose released new numbers from ongoing Columbus Park sweep.
About 1/3 of unhoused residents from Columbus Park are already in shelters; another third have agreed to come indoors. The sweep is now entering its third week.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A new, safe sleeping site is opening in San Jose this week, two weeks after the city began cleaning up the largest homeless encampment in the South Bay.
The new safe sleeping site on East Taylor Street will offer space and services for homeless people living in the area. Up to 56 people are expected to move in at some point later this week.
The city is also bringing online this week the Alura Hotel on Oakland Road which is one of several hotels the city is leasing to help the unhoused with temporary shelter.
Neighbor Yuji Kikuchi said he's not too worried about living so near the site.
"I think it's a pretty safe place because I see kids walking to school," he said.
The goal of this site is to provide people with a temporary safe place to stay before they can move into shelters or access other housing options.
The city also reported on Tuesday that 128 unhoused residents from Columbus Park have already moved into shelter in the past two weeks, and another third have agreed to come indoors when shelter is available. The city has removed more than 200,000 pounds of trash and 78 vehicles.
It all comes at a key time for unhoused people in San Jose, where transitional housing options can be limited and take months to set up.
San Jose is one of the most expensive cities in the nation when it comes to housing, with rent averages estimated to be more than $3,000 each month, according to Redfin.
Those high prices have a big impact.
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New sleeping site for homeless opens in San Jose
A new, safe sleeping site is opening in San Jose this week, two weeks after the largest homeless encampment in the South Bay city was shut down.
The city of San Jose estimates more than 6,000 people are unhoused in the city on any given day.
Mayor Matt Mahan shared more about the city's progress to alleviate homelessness.
"By the end of this year we are currently on track to reach a huge milestone: a 50% sheltered rate across our city," Mahan said last week. "That would mean half of the nearly 6,000 homeless residents in our community aren't sleeping along our creeks, or along our streets. They are sleeping in a bed each night."
Construction on this site began back in May. The city says the first access to this site will be given to unhoused people living near Watson Park and near the Guadalupe River.