Homelessness will always be an issue in Tampa (as well as in St. Petersburg and every other major American city). However, it's not being debated on a week-to-week basis, as was the case back in 2010-2011 when the Tampa City Council crafted a law to reduce panhandling (the law bans soliciting on every day but Sunday, with the exception of newspaper hawkers).
The last official count of the homeless in 2011 revealed that Hillsborough County has one of the highest levels of homelessness in the nation — more than 17,000 people were reported as not having a permanent address.
But when the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County conducted a similar survey back in January, they counted significantly fewer people, a virtual 50 percent decrease. After some consideration, officials decided the lower number was wrong.
This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2013.