When I left Albuquerque in 2018, an official count reported 2,551 homeless people scattered across New Mexico. By 2024, that number had nearly doubled, to 4,631.

Homelessness is a complex problem that all cities face. Nearly half of Albuquerque’s homeless population is unsheltered. And the city’s answer to this problem is a remote former prison covered in black mold, parasites and bed bugs.

Albuquerque’s introduction of Safe Outdoor Spaces provided a creative solution, promoting the use of private resources to ease a public problem. In light of the city’s ban on sleeping on public property, these spaces would decrease the number of unsheltered people forced outside without opening up the........

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