Homeless Commission Looking for Site to Replace Tent City

Nashville’s Homelessness Commission is looking for a new site to replace Tent City. A Metro councilman says the homeless camp, under an interstate bridge near downtown, will be shut down before the end of the year.

Officials have tried to close down Tent City before, with Mayor Karl Dean even setting a deadline for June of last year. Now Metro Councilman Erik Cole, who chairs the homelessness commission, says those living at the camp will soon be displaced.

“Before the weather turns cold again this fall, we’re going to have to have an operational transition plan that closes this site, because of a number of the legal issues that are around it, plus some impending construction.”

As part of that transition effort, Cole says a committee is looking for a model, possibly from another city. Commission Director Clifton Harris says he’s also figuring out what to look for in a new location.

“That will help determine the size, and how the property is used, and where it can be located, and what it can’t be located near, and those types of things.”

Harris says it’s not clear exactly when the move will happen – only that soon the Transportation Department will start work near the site, and evict the homeless camp.

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A recent report shows homelessness in Nashville up 7 percent compared to last year. Below you can hear more from about the rise from Harris.

Harris says specific causes for the rise are unclear, and therefore hard to address.

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