The Hot Spot program launched in October and picks up trash from sidewalks and streets. Unlike abatements, the city tries to prevent valuables from being thrown away.
In the seven months since the city of San Diego launched the Hot Spot program, it has collected 580 tons of trash from the streets and sidewalks around homeless encampments.
The Hot Spot crews crisscross downtown streets as their daily routes begin and then spread out to other neighborhoods. People in encampments do not have to relocate or move their possessions, and the crews do not remove anything from inside a tent. It’s often not hard to spot what should be discarded. On a recent round, the crew pulled over on Island Avenue near 17th Street and used a shovel to scoop up broken plastic toys, cardboard, an empty champagne bottle and other trash.Fusco said some homeless people have come to expect the daily visits and have trash bags waiting for them.On Island Avenue, encampment resident Chris Coleman swept around his tent and said he always has trash ready for the crew.
Coleman said the weekly abatements were not enough to keep the sidewalks clean, which he described as a mess before the daily clean-ups. “It kind of haunted me when I came home at night and she’s not there,” he said. “One day I came home and thought, I’ve got to go. I put my things in storage and walked away. This is where I ended up.”
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