The number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Downtown San Diego has dropped nearly 65% since its peak in 2023.  

According to the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s monthly count of unsheltered residents, which includes all of the Downtown area and East Village, 756 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness were seen in June, a major decline from a peak of 2,104 people counted in May 2023.  

The decrease in one of San Diego’s most impacted communities follows the City’s launch and subsequent expansion of the Safe Sleeping Program over the past two years. With two locations close to Downtown, the program can accommodate approximately 760 people in City-provided tents with meals, restrooms, housing navigation and basic medical care connections.  

Including more than 1,600 traditional shelter beds and 400 spaces in the Safe Parking Program, the City altogether funds nearly 2,800 sheltering options. In the last two calendar years alone, City-funded programs for individuals experiencing homelessness have seen over 3,480 positive exits.   

Overall, sheltering options, along with supportive housing and rapid rehousing units, have more than doubled during the past four years.  

In the summer of 2023, the City of San Diego also implemented the Unsafe Camping Ordinance, which prohibits encampments at all times near sensitive areas like schools or parks, and all other public spaces when shelter beds are available. The ordinance uses a progressive enforcement model that offers available resources along the way, with the goal always to connect individuals to programs to end their homelessness.  

“Despite fears of the Unsafe Camping Ordinance pushing people to other jurisdictions or that the Safe Sleeping Program wouldn’t work, we’ve seen successful outcomes,” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. “The annual count conducted earlier this year shows homelessness dropped nearly 14% in the City alone, with a smaller drop countywide. Our continued efforts and momentum in this space is turning the tide, and we aren’t taking our foot off the gas.” 

To address the growing population for people living in their vehicles, the City opened a new 190-space Safe Parking site in May 2025. The H Barracks lot, which offers space for standard sized and oversized vehicles, nearly doubled the size of the City’s Safe Parking Program capacity to just over 400 spaces across five lots. This winter, the Rachel’s Promise Center for Women and Children shelter is set increase capacity by 160 beds with more options for single women and families. 

The shelter options provided by the City and others are far safer than living on the street or in a canyon. Across San Diego, the City’s Environmental Services Department conducts daily abatements to mitigate public health and safety risks found in encampments. Available services are always offered to unhoused residents before any encampment abatement, and 24-hour notices are posted.  

In San Diego’s Downtown Property and Business Improvement District, the Downtown San Diego Partnership conducts regular sidewalk power washing, trash collection and graffiti removal. Downtown San Diego Partnership also operates a portion of the Safe Sleeping Program and the City’s Family Reunification Program and will take over operations for the City’s Homelessness Response Center this summer. The Downtown San Diego Partnership has been conducting monthly counts of unsheltered individuals since at least 2012. 

The City’s efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness are working. While this progress is encouraging, the City remains committed to continuing to offer resources and solutions to address homelessness.