Sacramento's "Tent City" has become national, even world-wide, news over the last two weeks. This article is Sacramento Press' take on the situation based on a visit by myself and our photographer, Anthony Bento, earlier this week.

I had been by there before, on several occasions, and expected to see a dozen or so tents and a large pile of trash. But what I found blew my mind. After ascending a certain hill (I'll leave the exact location undisclosed in this article) the gathering comes into view. It is, by my estimation, at least 10x larger than it was in July 2008. Hundreds of tents scattered over several acres make up "Tent City", and a city it is indeed.

Estimates of the total number of homeless living in this area range from 300-1200: I place my estimate somewhere in the middle at about 500 homeless.

First impression-"Wow" 

The area was a hub of activity. Smoke plumed from several campfires over which residents prepared meals, people were coming and going from the camp on bicycles and on foot, and a kid of about 10 years weaved between tents on a gas-powered mini motorcycle. A man played fetch with his dog, while other dogs on leashes sat near their owners. There were no putrid smells. The residents appeared to range in age from early 30's to mid 50's. I saw a news van from ABC Channel 7, based in the bay area, setting up for a live feed and walked over to speak with them.

They were preparing for a feed to 5 different news broadcasts located across California including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. 'Pat' (name changed), the camera operator, shared with me his thoughts on the situation and his concerns that he could see himself in a camp like this if he were to lose his job. "This business isn't doing so great right now. I'm lucky, I still have my job, but you never know."

Anthony wandered off to snap photographs as I made my way into the makeshift city and headed for one of the campfires which several people were gathered around.

"Baldy" (his street name), a black man in his mid-40's who isn't bald,  was busy breaking apart pallets to fuel the fire as I approached. The group was hesitant to speak with me, but after hearing that I was a student and an unpaid local reporter, "Baldy" opened up.

I asked him how he came to live in "Tent City": "Well, I moved out here from the east coast last July, been homeless since August. I met some people who invited me out and been here since." A woman shouted from twenty feet away, "Baldy ain't been nothin' but problems since he got here," following the statement with a laugh. "That's Theresa, she got me settled in here."

I asked if this was a new experience for him: "I know what you're thinkin', but I never been homeless. I come from a good middle-class family, I had good parents, a good upbringing." He moved out here with hopes of finding work. He has two decades of experience in construction and kitchen work, but has been unsuccessful his his job search. "I'm always lookin' for work. There's no jobs," he paused and continued to break wood for his fire, "I won't give up. I won't give up."

I asked about "Tent City" itself. "Tent City, Homeless Town, we call it 'The Wasteland'." He pointed out the different sections of town--the drug users located across the field several hundred yards away, the bad crowd near the drug users (violent types), the recluses across the train tracks in an area dubbed, "The Snakepit". I pointed to a cozy-looking place with a fence and gate built around a tent. "Yeah, they moved here a month ago. I don't plan to stay long enough to want to build somethin'. But if you have pallets, you can build anything."

"The originals", a group of homeless who lived at this site months before, moved upstream about a half-mile seeking a more peaceful area. "You should see some of their digs, man. They got crazy set-ups." Baldy told me that the city's population has exploded since he arrived, prompting me to ask about safety of the area.

He told me in a loud, proud voice, "This here is one big family. We look out for each other and take care of our own." A half dozen of his neighbors voiced their approval, "That's right, uh huh." Theresa shouted from her tent nearby, "Tell him about 'Batman and Robin'." At this the entire group chatted amongst themselves as Baldy explained.

"You got good cops, and you got bad cops. And we got 'Batman and Robin'." 

This duo of city policemen drive through the camp almost daily. Also known as the "Homeless Cops", they know the usual residents and keep watch for anybody who doesn't belong that might cause problems, and prevent the "bad cops" from harassing the residents. "For all the people trying to cause us grief, 'Batman and Robin' do more good for the homeless than anybody else out here." He attributes them for helping to keep "Tent City" in its current location.

Baldy told me that churches come out almost every weekend to pass out tents, sleeping bags, clothes, food, and most importantly, water. There is no water system flowing to "Tent City", so the delivery of bottled water is much appreciated. Other aspects that we might take for granted are lacking as well--sewage, electricity, trash pick-up.

Recently porta-potties and a massive dumpster were donated by local rental companies to fill the communities need. Prior to their arrival, waste of all types was deposited across the levee on the river banks. Everyone I spoke with praised these amenities. One man told me, "We're homeless, but we don't like living in filth. Before the dumpster we just put our trash across the levee on public land. Then the county had to take it anyway." 

The sun began to set and Baldy wanted to eat his dinner he had been cooking while we spoke, putting an end to our conversation. He left me with one last trinket, "I'll tell you one more thing, man. Something you probably don't know. Maybe about 50% of people here are on GA (Government Assistance). When the first of the month hits, this place is like a ghost town." 

He refused to expand on that statement and I shook his hand and thanked him for his time. I walked through the camp to meet up with Anthony who was snapping pictures of some of the settlements and spoke briefly with several other "Tent City" citizens while they sipped on Steel Reserve and smoked cigarettes, before we headed back to our bicycles and home.

Amid talks of sanctioning or closing "Tent City", I was happy to get a better understanding of the gathering. It functions like a standard community, housing people of all types, from drug abusers to day laborers. Many of these people have ambitions and a desire to improve their current situations. Many are first-time homeless who are temporarily down on their luck and expect to rebound soon. Many are also government leeches, taking aid checks and spending it on booze and drugs. 

Overall this is a content group of people. While I was there I heard more laughing, and saw more smiles, than I do while walking around downtown and midtown Sacramento. People were friendly and wiling to talk, sharing jokes and poking fun at the news vans that have pestered them lately. It was a great experience and enlightened me a bit more to the plight of the homeless.

Keep in mind that when much of the country, and the world, thinks of Sacramento, the pictures above and the pictures splattered across the internet will be what they see. Mayor Johnson has many difficult decisions ahead on what to do about a situation that continues to worsen. Time will tell the fate of "Tent City".

*Photographs by  Anthony Bento