Anchorage scrambles to find enough housing for the homeless before the Alaska winter sets in

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — — Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson gained national attention this summer when heout of Alaska's largest city for anyone without housing who wanted to leave before winter.

“A lot of people are going to freeze,” said Scott Gibson, who is preparing to spend his second Alaska winter outside. Someone recently destroyed Gibson's tent and stole most of what was inside. Now everything he owns fits in a backpack. Alaska's biggest city has an estimated 3,150 homeless individuals and enough room in shelters for all but about 775 people, Johnson said. The city recently brought four more housing facilities, which could create space for another 310 people, but is still seeking winter housing for an estimated 400 to 450 people.

With Alaska's extra-short summer construction season,"there must be a lot of progress made between now and April 1” to avoid a repeat of the rush for emergency housing next winter, Rivera said. During the pandemic, Anchorage configured the roughly 6,000-seat Sullivan Arena to be a mass-care facility. It has served more than 500 homeless people in the winters until city officials decided to return it to its original purpose, hosting concerts and hockey games.

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Alaska's Affordable Housing Crisis | Alaska InsightAcross Alaska, it’s a challenge to find affordable housing. Home building and vacancy rates are down, while rent, mortgage rates and home prices are up. The lack of affordable housing drives people into overcrowded homes and homelessness, or out of state. Some officials have begun referring to it as a housing crisis. On this episode of Alaska Insight, host Lori Townsend is joined by Anchorage Assembly Member Dr. Daniel Volland, and Nolan Klouda, Executive Director of the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, to discuss the causes, and possible solutions, of Alaska's housing crunch.
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