Anchorage business owners speak on impact of homelessness in downtown

“It’s been an issue for years, but when the Sullivan closed, right away we noticed more people camping out in Town Square Park here, sitting on the cement planter boxes on the side of our building, sleeping in our entryway,” said Deborah Bonito, co-owner of the Kobuk.

“Again, we worry for the safety, I’ve got young people working for me, we’ve had people punched, we’ve had people spit on,” Bonito said. “It’s just not OK.” “The more activity there is in the public spaces — the more positive activity there is — then the less problems there are,” Bonito said. “So we love it when this market happens on Sunday.”

“You see more homelessness around town than past years it seems like, but here I mean, yeah, they’ll come by every once awhile and people will say, like, ‘Do you need help setting up or taking down,’ and I usually just say no,” Lekander said.

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