Reducing homelessness and building more housing are two of my top priorities. Every single day, we are getting people off the street, connected to services and on a path to permanent housing while streamlining building permits and implementing other pro-housing policies to build more homes that everyday San Diegans can afford. 

San Diego has made significant progress in addressing homelessness, expanding shelter options, and pushing forward innovative solutions to get people off the streets and into permanent housing. 

Since 2021, we have more than doubled the number of available shelter options, launching groundbreaking programs like Safe Sleeping. We’ve also prioritized housing production to tackle homelessness at its root. 

Indications are that the tide is finally turning, with more people now leaving the streets for permanent housing than falling into homelessness – an important measure that for several years had shown people becoming homeless faster than we could get them housed. 

Actions the City has taken to tackle homelessness include: 

• Safe Sleeping Launch and Expansion: From its launch in 2023 with 530 tents, the program has grown to 765 tents, offering a vital non-congregate shelter option that connects individuals to services and offers an easier transition off the streets. 

• Safe Parking Growth: In 2025, we will open the City’s fifth Safe Parking site at H Barracks near the airport, nearly doubling available spaces for those sheltering in their vehicles. 

• Bridge to Home Initiative: This program has helped fund 22 projects, resulting in nearly 2,000 affordable homes—including 400 for people experiencing homelessness. 

• Homekey Investments: The City has leveraged this state program to create more than 600 new permanent homes across six properties from San Ysidro to Rancho Bernardo. 

• Targeted Outreach and Housing Placements: Our City-funded outreach, shelter, safe parking and family reunification programs, have served more than 25,000 people since 2021 and successfully placed nearly 5,000 into housing. 

• Championed Mental Health Reforms: Treatment services for mental illness and substance abuse are the responsibility of the County of San Diego. My administration has advocated persistently to expand access to behavioral health care. 

• Passed the Unsafe Camping Ordinance, Reducing Unsafe Encampments: From January to December 2024, the City abated 6,473 encampments under the Unsafe Camping Ordinance, ensuring safer and healthier public spaces. 

While we continue this work, we are also adapting. After a year of negotiations, the Kettner and Vine shelter campus proposal will not move forward, and we are proposing alternative sites, including the Old Central Library, the City Operations Building and a site identified in the San Diego Housing Commission Request for Qualifications, among others. 

Continuing to expand shelter remains a top priority—because leaving people on the streets is not an option. On Monday, Feb. 10, the City Council will consider these proposed shelter locations and will provide their input on the front end for City staff to return to the City Council with additional details and action. I am strongly urging Councilmembers to provide input on a permanent shelter facility to replace beds that will come offline in the future as well as  bring more people off the streets . As we have seen in the past, planning for the future by ensuring permanent locations for shelter is how we make progress toward reducing homelessness. 

Since its launch in 2021, San Diego’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Bonus Program has created hundreds of new homes, nearly half of which are rent-restricted affordable housing—without taxpayer subsidies. The program has been recognized as a model for other cities, showing how local innovation can drive housing affordability. 

The ADU Bonus program incentivizes property owners to build more ADUs by allowing additional units when half of them are rent-restricted to be affordable to lower-income residents. This approach has made it easier for working families, seniors, and young professionals to find housing they can afford in their own communities. 

Despite this success, the City Council has taken an unexpected step toward repealing the ADU Bonus Program. The decision could undermine the City’s ability to provide affordable housing and meet state-mandated housing goals. 

I am reviewing all available options for this program, which has created hundreds of homes everyday San Diegans can afford without using taxpayer subsidies. Housing production cannot slow down, and I remain committed to expanding opportunities for San Diegans to have a roof over their heads at a price they can afford. 

My commitment to updating outdated community plans is delivering real results—and creating opportunities to build housing in key job centers. A newly approved housing project in Sorrento Mesa is a direct result of the Mira Mesa Community Plan Update, which designated additional land as suitable for housing near employment hubs. 

For decades, Sorrento Mesa has been dominated by office and industrial space, making it difficult for workers to live near their jobs and giving workers in the area some of the worst commutes in San Diego. Thanks to forward-thinking land use changes, new homes in and near prime job centers are now possible. 

Recent community plan updates that unlocked the potential for tens of thousands of new homes include: 

• Mira Mesa Community Plan Update – Opened the door for 24,000 new homes, including new urban employment villages. 

• Barrio Logan Community Plan Update – Increased housing capacity by 1,300 homes in a historically underserved community. 

• University City Plan Update – Allows for up to 29,000 new homes while reinforcing the area as a major economic hub, supporting up to 72,000 additional jobs in office, retail, research, technology, and health care. The plan also capitalizes on the $2 billion Mid-Coast Trolley extension, ensuring better connections between housing and job centers. 

• Hillcrest Focused Plan – Paves the way for up to 17,200 new homes, prioritizing truly affordable housing while supporting small businesses and celebrating the neighborhood’s LGBTQ+ history through the designation of a cultural entertainment district. 

Other community plan updates currently in the works include: 

• College Area Community Plan Update – Aims to modernize zoning and increase housing capacity near SDSU, creating opportunities for students and families. 

• Clairemont Community Plan Update – Focused on adding more housing near job centers and transit, while maintaining the character of the community. 

• Mid-City Community Plan Updates – Just getting underway, this effort will update plans for City Heights, Eastern Area, Kensington-Talmage, and Normal Heights to support housing, businesses, and infrastructure improvements. 

By modernizing outdated zoning and planning for growth, we are making it easier to build housing where people work—reducing commutes, improving quality of life, and making San Diego a more affordable place to live. 

The City of San Diego has contracts with various service providers to offer shelter options to people experiencing homelessness. At our shelters, people are connected to support services and ultimately put on a path toward permanent housing.    

• The shelters listed below are City-funded (Note: There are additional shelters outside of this system that are operating within the City of San Diego.)   

• Alcohol Use Disorder Shelter (TURN Behavioral Health Services)  

• Alpha Project Bridge Shelter I    

• Alpha Project Bridge Shelter II    

• Barrio Logan Family Shelter   

• Community Harm Reduction Shelter    

• Community Harm Reduction Safe Haven   

• Father Joe’s Villages Bishop Maher Center    

• LGBT Center - LGBTQ+ Affirming TAY Shelter (Clairemont)   

• LGBT Center - LGBTQ+ Affirming TAY Shelter (Midway)   

• PATH Connections Housing    

• Rachel’s Promise Women’s Shelter    

• Rosecrans Shelter    

• Safe Sleeping at 20th & B    

• Safe Sleeping at O Lot    

• Salvation Army Interim Family Shelter   

• San Diego Youth Services   

• Seniors Landing    

• South County Lighthouse (San Diego Rescue Mission)  

• Urban Street Angels Youth Shelter   

• Veterans Village of San Diego (Point Loma Campus) 

Gloria 'exploring options' after surprise City Council vote seeking repeal of landmark housing program (KPBS) 

Hundreds of volunteers went looking for thousands of homeless people. Here’s what they found. (San Diego Union-Tribune) 

Sorrento Mesa office property slated to be redeveloped with hundreds of apartments (San Diego Union-Tribune)