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Urban Camping Work Group
Mayor Andrea Davis convened the Urban Camping Work Group in February 2024. This group represented diverse stakeholders including City Council, members of the provider community, business interests, neighborhood representatives, and members of the houseless community. The purpose was to explore and make recommendations to the City Council to assist the City in positively managing issues and situations related to Missoula’s unsheltered population.
Process Objectives
The Urban Camping Work Group had the following objectives:
Collectively define the problems created by and associated with unsheltered living in Missoula and address critical questions related to those problems.
Mayor Andrea Davis convened the Urban Camping Work Group in February 2024. This group represented diverse stakeholders including City Council, members of the provider community, business interests, neighborhood representatives, and members of the houseless community. The purpose was to explore and make recommendations to the City Council to assist the City in positively managing issues and situations related to Missoula’s unsheltered population.
Process Objectives
The Urban Camping Work Group had the following objectives:
Collectively define the problems created by and associated with unsheltered living in Missoula and address critical questions related to those problems.
Find general agreement on desired outcomes related to the unsheltered living situation.
Recommend actionable, incentivizing solutions, regulatory tools, and monitoring metrics that support the safety and accessibility of our community.
City Council passed a resolution and an ordinance to provide the City with a framework to enforce public health and safety in the City's public spaces, while acknowledging that some people have no other shelter options. The ordinance is codified in Missoula Municipal Code 12.60. View the message from Mayor Davis below to learn about how we're implementing the new regulations.
Addressing Houselessness
Unsheltered living is only one aspect of houselessness in our community. The City of Missoula is also working to make housing more affordable and attainable in our community. We contribute funds and staff to work with community partners on providing shelter options. We advocate for policies and funding at the state and federal levels, because the houselessness problem is not unique to Missoula. See the related projects on this page for more information about all the work we do on this complex issue.
