Homeless Update - Key West

(Key West, Florida) With a subtropical climate and an accommodating attitude toward vagrants, Key West has been a popular and enduring destination for the homeless.

Back in 2004, a review found that the local authorities had developed plans for a safe zone, a homeless tent city to include "Quonset hut or chickee structures, bathrooms, showers and a laundry facility." The authorities sought to keep the homeless from camping on the beaches. It's not known how those plans worked out but it is known that homelessness continues to be a challenge for Key West's city officials.

Additionally, in the years since 2004 it has become clear that the vagrant population of Key West and Monroe County is largely an afterthought during hurricane evacuations. In fairness to emergency planners, however, it's virtually impossible to provide for evacuation of an unknown number of people who don't have an address.

From a recent report, the problem of homelessness in Key West is seen to be compounded by the fact that there exists virtually no affordable housing for anybody but the very well off.

The statewide construction downswing doesn't seem to have really hit Key West. New waterfront condos are still hot sellers at a $2 million clip. Affordable middle-class housing is still badly needed, though.

One novel proposal is to build 25 inexpensive condos right on school property to put the brakes on teacher turnover. Already among Florida's highest-paid teachers, they still exit this tropical paradise at a rate of more than 100 a year.

Consequently, even people with stable, professional jobs cannot afford housing in Key West.

In summary, the vagrancy problem in Key West continues, apparently unabated. And, as a recent visitor observed, the homeless element is one of the very first things noticed upon arriving on the island.

On a lighter note, the homeless have become such an integral part of Key West life that a recent mayoral candidate suggested dressing up vagrants as pirates to emphasize the carnival atmosphere on the island and its historic connection to throat-slashing thieves from centuries ago. Frankly, it's probably offensive, arguably with a nugget of truth, to correlate the homeless with thieves.