By Michael Grass
Route Fifty
This is a first in semi-regular series of posts looking at the statistics that shape state, county and municipal governments and the communities they serve across the United States.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Driving along the web of suburban freeways that crisscross Silicon Valley, it’s sometimes hard to see the problem of homelessness. Stopped at a traffic light on an off-ramp, you might catch a glimpse of an encampment partially hidden in the dry vegetation.
In downtown San Jose, you might see homeless locals in St. James Park or wandering around the sidewalks of the central business district.
In Santa Clara County, which includes the city of San Jose and its Silicon Valley neighbors like Campbell, Cupertino, Mountain View and Sunnyvale, there are more than 6,500 homeless people across the county’s 15 cities and unincorporated areas—6,556 people to be exact, according to the county’s recently released homeless census and survey of those who are unsheltered and those in emergency or transitional housing.
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