Group 5 : The Urban Homeless Coalition

With the influx of people into the city from around the U.S. and manycountries, combined with the depressed economy, a significant homelesspopulation has been created. These people have been increasingly using thespace below the river's overpasses and abandoned buildings nearby forshelter. The Coalition, formed through the help of charitableorganizations, has been an advocacy group to try to find ways to solve thehousing problems of the urban homeless.

One approach is to refurbish existing abandoned building into shelters.This plan would require the strengthening of flood control protectionsalready in place. Naturalization of the river would not be in the interestsof the Coalition, since that plan would call for the destruction of thebuildings at the riverside. They also oppose the businesspersons' plansince it would only succeed in driving the homeless out of the area.Finally, they line up against homeowners also since that group would liketo see the homeless settle in another area due to their impact on propertyvalues.