Despite the city of Phoenix’s protests that its notorious mass homeless encampment, “The Zone,” couldn’t be cleaned up in a matter of months, the very same did happen this week. Four years of public blight disappeared virtually overnight, thanks to a stern court order fought for by locals who’d had enough.
The city proved itself wrong: it was, in fact, capable of following the law in a timely manner. One of the principal lawyers representing residents burdened and endangered by The Zone, Ilan Wurman, celebrated the dissolution of the mass encampment.
“We did it. Because of our lawsuit, the City has cleared the Zone. And look at the huge number of folks who accepted shelter. Just incredible,” said Wurman.
We did it. Because of our lawsuit, the City has cleared the Zone. And look at the huge number of folks who ACCEPTED SHELTER. Just incredible.
"Phoenix's Largest Homeless Encampment, 'the Zone,' Is Now Gone." @azcentral https://t.co/XhFTLUmyJQ
— Ilan Wurman (@ilan_wurman) November 2, 2023
In his post, Wurman opted to share local media coverage of The Zone’s dissolution, which kicked off with an account of a homeless woman and her friend crying that the illegal tent city they called home — a lawless wild west rife with the recurring spectacles of nearly all the squalor and depravity mankind could possibly contrive, from drugs and drug-dealing, to prostitution and trafficking, to public defecation and urination, to assaults and murders — no longer existed.
It wasn’t just emotions on display: more overt resistance to the city’s cleanup efforts also occurred. An activist, Sophia Dancel, was arrested multiple times for trespassing and refusing to leave taped-off areas closed for cleaning. Dancel’s partner, Jessica Spencer, claimed that Dancel’s recent arrest was “violent” in a public Instagram video.
Dancel and Spencer run Radical Community Care, a mutual aid group. They were present throughout the city cleanups. Dancel also runs Unsheltered Phoenix, which advocates for decriminalizing homelessness.
In August, Dancel attempted to raise up her followers against her landlord and neighbor on Instagram, the former for attempting to evict her and Spencer for attracting the homeless on their front lawn by handing out water, and the latter for calling the police to complain about the alleged blight the watering station caused.
Despite the efforts of Dancel and her peers, the city managed to methodically clear each block of The Zone, 15 in all, with the last block cleared on Wednesday.
The city began cleaning up back in May after a judge denied their appeal to give them more time to clean up The Zone. Over the last six months, they worked on cleaning up and clearing out 11 blocks. However, their efforts appeared to be ineffective, as reports came in through August that The Zone population had only grown.
It wasn’t until the Maricopa County Superior Court doubled down in September on his initial order to get rid of The Zone, issuing a hard deadline of Nov. 4, that the city appeared to get serious about getting rid of The Zone permanently.
Wednesday’s efforts by the city marked completion of their court-ordered task several days before the deadline. Of those remaining in the last block of The Zone, city officials reported that 125 accepted shelter, 10 refused.
In preparation for the final clearing of The Zone, the city established 362 temporary transitional lodging beds. In the future, the city will have 790 new shelter beds.
The city also installed signage prohibiting future encampments in the area, acknowledging that they created a public nuisance. Those seeking shelter were directed to the Brian Garcia Welcome Center nearby.