STOCKTON, CA — In Stockton's Smith Canal neighborhood, tension lingers as residents navigate daily life alongside an entrenched homeless encampment. Despite recent clean-up efforts by the city, locals find themselves contending with the same issues, as the encampment inhabitants inevitably return.
Salomon Gomez, a resident who frequently passes by the encampment located beneath Interstate 5 on Shimizu Drive, voices a growing concern. "They just clean, they wait for a little while and they come back," Gomez stated, referencing the city's second organized clean-up since January.
The presence of the encampment has altered the landscape of the community, with shopping carts and debris cluttering the canal's banks, some items even submerged in the water. The impact is felt keenly by Gomez, especially when walking his daughter to school or navigating his way to the local grocery store. "It's not too safe," he admitted, highlighting the unease that comes with unpredictability.
Safety concerns extend beyond the canal's edge. Overhead, the bustling Interstate 5 bears the visible scars of fires from the encampment below, raising questions about the undercrossing's integrity. "Actually, it's not," Gomez said when pondering the safety of the freeway structure. The California Highway Patrol has acknowledged awareness of both the encampment and the resulting damage, directing further inquiries to Caltrans, which has yet to offer a response.
The sentiment for a safer Stockton is echoed throughout Gomez's community. Residents hope for swift and sustained action from city officials. "I hope and I wish that people that work in city hall, the mayor, or whoever is in charge of the city, do a little bit better job," expressed Gomez. "For the safety of everybody."
The situation at Smith Canal serves as a microcosm of a larger societal challenge, with implications that stretch from the health and well-being of the homeless population to the residents who share this corner of Stockton. As the city grapples with finding a lasting solution, Gomez and his neighbors wait with cautious optimism, yearning for progress and a return to normalcy.
