Tent City in Camden, New Jersey

The Tent City (or “Transition Park) in Camden, New Jersey that was set to be closed on April 15th remains up and running. This is after threats from the local government (or others? Please keep reading) that the camp was on the verge of being shut down for sanitation reasons. Now it would seem that since the city could not find adequate housing for all of the campers the camp will not be shut down.


This article (on the opinion page of the site) http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20100418/OPINION/4180328/1047/opinion starts off the by stating “[h]ere are the facts on any Camden County involvement with Tent City in Camden” which is an odd thing to write in a newspaper article as though one must be told that the newspaper/author is now going to tell the truth instead of what it/he usually does?
The article continues, “[t]he land on which Tent City is located is owned by the state Department of Transportation. Neither Camden County nor Camden City has any jurisdiction over it.” This is an interesting point especially in the case of Camp Take Notice. Only the state has jurisdiction over the state owned land.


Later in the article the author accuses the official leader of the Tent City of default on an agreement “to keep any newcomers [new homeless individuals] from joining” the camp made to the city and county. Again this is odd as the article/opinion states that the land is owned by the state, and the city and county have no jurisdiction. So one would assume that the promise should have been made to the state in order to be enforced. The author of this particular article seems to trying to exculpate the county and the city from any blame for the homeless issue in the area of Camden.

This article from Friday indicates that the Attorney General’s office “has no specific plans or strategies to kick anyone out.” So the state does not plan to take action at this time. http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20100416/NEWS01/4160323/1006/news01

This article from Saturday indicates that it was a Camden County official that made the threat to shut the camp down. But the camp could not be shut down because alternative adequate shelter could not be found for thirty or so campers remaining at the camp.
http://beforeitsnews.com/news/33987/Camden_Tent_City_Residents_Get_A_Reprieve.html

And finally yesterday. This article indicates that the campers were the ones that mandated the date of April 15 as a deadline to find adequate housing for those living at the camp.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/karen_heller/20100418_Karen_Heller__Spotlight_shining_on_Camden_s_Tent_City.html

Editors Note: So with all of this mismatch of information I have no idea what is true and what is not true. What does everyone else think?