Riverside has been making strides in cleaning up homeless encampments, according to a recent press release, as Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to push California cities to make them illegal.
“It’s time to take back the streets. It’s time to take back the sidewalks. It’s time to take these encampments and provide alternatives. The state is giving you more resources than ever, and it’s time, I think, to just end the excuses,” Newsom said during a virtual news conference.
A model ordinance released to local governments in the state on May 12, bans homeless encampments lasting longer than three days.
In the model ordinance Newsom explained what he would like to see banned: camping in a certain place for more than three nights in a row, makeshift shacks built on public property and structures blocking the sidewalks or streets in the cities.
With Newsom’s announcement on Monday, it is now up to the cities and counties to enforce the clearing of homeless encampments. Newsom suggested that those who fail to address the encampments could deal with financial consequences.
In Riverside County, according to rivco.org, there were 3,390 individuals living in shelters or outside of shelters as of January 2025. A notable area where homeless individuals set up camping sites is in the Santa Ana River bottom in Riverside. The river bottom can be a dangerous place for individuals to camp because of fires started by them, with the most recent arson-related brush fire happening in January 2025.
Riverside County has been making efforts to clean out the Santa Ana River bottom yearly since 2021 as an effort to prevent wildfires from happening in the long term. The Encampment Resolution Fund has supported this effort with $11 million.
The city of Riverside has made significant progress in clearing the area and placing homeless individuals into shelters. In Riverside County, there has been a 19% decrease in unsheltered homeless individuals as of May 2025.
Recent data in 2025, according to riversideca.gov, Riverside has been having success with slowing the growth of homeless individuals. From 2022 to 2023, the number of homeless individuals grew from 307 to 605. Between 2023 and 2025, the city’s homeless population grew from 605 to 614 individuals.
“We must focus on keeping people from falling into homelessness just as we now focus on those living on the streets, a strategy which will reduce homelessness more effectively in Riverside,” City Manager Mike Futrell said.
Riverside homeless shelters were contacted, but could not be reached at this time.
