A “Hub of Hope” that would provide services to unhoused people who are removed from Metro trains each night is once again getting pushback from the city of Long Beach.
The hub is designed to be a shelter for unhoused people who ride the train and are forced off at the end of the night. It would provide showers, food and a place to receive services.
The latest proposed location, the Del Amo stop, is just outside Long Beach’s city border, and it’s technically in Compton. It’s also about seven miles from the current end of the line.
Metro proposed the idea of a hub after Long Beach asked them to reconsider its current end of the line policy, which dumps unhoused riders downtown each night. Downtown business owners say the unhoused wander around, committing vandalism and sleeping in front of stores.
Metro first proposed the Wardlow or Willow stops three miles north of downtown. It was met with opposition from residents who worried about the same issues downtown business owners worried about.
The city said in a statement that it “heard some input from the community about concerns of the Willow hub being near schools and parks, and requested that Del Amo be evaluated since it is not near a school or a park.”
Metro says it “remains committed to providing Metro property at the Willow Station,” but “Should the city of decide to forgo the hub, Metro will look for other suitable locations.”
However, some frustrated riders feel the “Hub of Hope” proposal is being jerked around, and so are the unhoused people. “Stop fooling with them and get them some help,” one rider told NBC4.
The city of Long Beach and Metro say they want to come up with a solution and will continue having meetings with the public to talk about the different proposed locations before they make a decision on whether to move forward, hopefully sometime this summer.
