This affluent Bay Area region is booming. So is its homelessness crisis

Dianne Evans didn't expect to become homeless for the first time in her 50s.

But after a bad breakup, the Navy veteran and longtime Livermore resident moved out of her then-boyfriend's home and into her Ford Excursion. Renting her own place, Evans said, was out of reach.

"On a single income out here, I just couldn't do it," she said.

Now 64, Evans lives in a travel trailer she parks in quiet parts of Livermore. She keeps to herself most days and uses the Excursion to commute to San Jose for overnight shifts as a security guard.

Evans is among a growing number of unhoused people in Livermore, where homelessness has climbed even as several of Alameda County's largest cities have reported declines.

Livermore's homeless population grew from 277 people in 2024 to 343 this year, the largest increase in Alameda County, according to the latest point-in-time count. The city accounts for only about 4% of the county's overall homeless population, but its rise - along with increases in neighboring Pleasanton and Dublin - stood out as Alameda, Oakland and Hayward saw notable drops.

The rise in homelessness in Livermore and other parts of the Tri-Valley - which encompasses Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon and Danville - comes as the region grapples with a population boom. The area is home to some of the fastest-growing cities in the state.

Livermore's population has doubled since the 1970s, and the populations of Pleasanton, Dublin and San Ramon have tripled during that same time frame as residents flocked to the East Bay from Fremont and the South Bay in search of good schools and relatively affordable homes. Though the region has built massive market-rate housing projects to try to meet the demand, it's fallen short in building affordable housing and opening shelter options.

Now Livermore officials are scrambling to address a jump in homelessness on their streets. The city spends about half a million dollars in federal grant money per year to address the crisis. Mayor John Marchand said he was very surprised by the increase because the city has tried to expand shelter options, build affordable housing and rely on state services to address addiction. But Marchand said more regional solutions are needed.

"Homelessness is extraordinarily complicated," Marchand said. "As I have said, there is no silver bullet to eliminate homelessness."

"What we could really use is for the rest of the cities in the region to step up and provide housing for the unsheltered," he added.

The findings of the point-in-time census, a biennial survey of homelessness conducted nationwide, could help Livermore figure out how to address the crisis, though the count is widely regarded as an imperfect estimate. Still, the results of the counts usually help guide how local and federal homelessness funding is distributed.

Service providers in Livermore say this year's increase may reflect several factors: better knowledge of where to find unhoused people during the count, a shortage of affordable housing, and a growing number of seniors on fixed incomes who can no longer afford the region's high cost of living after an illness, job loss or other destabilizing event.

Although other East Bay cities have ramped up enforcement and encampment clearing in recent years, providers said they have not seen evidence that people are relocating to the Tri-Valley as a result. Most unhoused people they encounter have spent much of their lives in the Tri-Valley, they said.

About a third of Livermore's homeless population was staying in a shelter at the time of the point-in-time count. Livermore is the only city in the Tri-Valley with year-round shelter programs; Pleasanton, Dublin, Danville and San Ramon do not have them. Pleasanton's homeless population rose from 70 people in 2024 to 96 in 2026, and Dublin's increased from 25 to 40 over the same period. San Ramon and Danville are in Contra Costa County, which has not yet released its latest point-in-time count data. In the previous count, there were eight unhoused people counted in San Ramon and none in Danville.

Providers say the shelters in Livermore are in high demand, operating at capacity almost every night with long lists of adults and families waiting for a spot.

Christine Beitsch-Bahmani, CEO of the nonprofit CityServe of the Tri-Valley, refers to the region as a "service desert." In addition to a shortage of shelter and affordable housing, the region has no public detox facilities for people experiencing addiction and no medical respite center for unhoused people recovering from illness or injury, she said.

CityServe staffers conduct outreach to unhoused people and work with other organizations to connect them with shelter, temporary hotel vouchers or permanent housing. Often, they have to send people to shelters or housing outside the region.

It can take up to seven years to match someone with permanent housing in the area, said Beitsch-Bahmani, and with more seniors aging in place, she's worried the problem will worsen.

"There's a silver tsunami and nowhere for them to go," she said. "We've been saying this for years. It is going to be an issue."

Marchand said Livermore has tried to build more affordable housing, but residents often stall those efforts. The city finally broke ground last month on a 130-unit affordable housing project downtown after eight years of delays due to litigation. Still, it's not enough. A March report from the city concluded that the affordable housing production was "far short of what is needed."

In total, the city has built 2,386 housing units from 2010 to 2020, according to a 2022 city report. Nearly 70% of Livermore's housing stock is single-family detached homes, which tend to be more expensive than multifamily units. Earlier this year, the city approved a 253-unit project - 114 of which will be affordable.

Other Tri-Valley cities are also far behind their affordable housing goals despite a construction boom. Dublin, which recorded a 60% increase in homelessness, had built 5,196 units from 2015 to 2022 - 122 of which are affordable. During that same time, Dublin also converted 1,024 market-rate apartments to affordable deed-restricted units for middle-income households. The median household income is about $214,000 in Dublin and about $161,000 in Livermore - both higher than the countywide average of $129,000, according to the latest census data.

While Dublin and other Tri-Valley cities lack shelters, Marchand said officials are considering expanding Livermore's current shelter stock with tiny homes, but lack the funds to do it.

"These strategies dealing with homelessness really need to come from the county," he said.

Despite the lack of funds and shelter options, the city often moves people who are sleeping on the streets. The city has an anti-camping ordinance that prohibits people from living on publicly accessible land.

Last month, the city cleared a homeless encampment near a business plaza that includes Kohl's and Walmart. Residents are typically given 24 hours notice to leave and, in many cases, leave on their own, said Azenith Smith, a spokesperson for the Livermore Police Department.

The police department launched a full-time homelessness unit, made up of two sworn officers, in 2018 that responds to disturbance and welfare checks, among other calls. And in 2024, the city launched a separate unit of a sworn officer and clinician to respond to mental health calls. That unit responded to 1,408 homelessness-related calls for service in 2025, averaging about 117 calls per month. So far this year the unit has handled 538 homelessness-related calls, averaging about 108 calls per month.

The city tries to connect people with shelter space or services when clearing an encampment, but sometimes a bed is unavailable or a resident refuses help. Marchand said the city has referred six people to CARE Court, a state program to get people with severe psychotic disorders into treatment.

"One of the ongoing challenges facing public safety and community service providers is connecting care-resistant individuals with the help they need," said Smith. "Greater focus and resources are needed for mental health care and drug and alcohol treatment, particularly for people who are suffering without adequate support and may be too ill to voluntarily accept services."

At the Open Heart Kitchen resource center near downtown Livermore, many of the guests in its shelter program are older. The average age of the guests at the 30-bed shelter is about 60, and there's a wait list of about 45 people, according to Executive Director John Bost.

Johnna Smith, 76, ended up at the shelter last year after a conflict with her brother over the home they inherited from their mother. Like Evans, Smith said, "I never thought I'd ever be in this situation."

Smith sleeps on one of the 30 reserved cots set up in the dining room and then spends most days chatting with friends she's made in the center's adjacent community room.

"When I first came here I was scared to death, but I have been treated so nice," she said.

The resource center, which opened in 2024, is a one-of-a-kind facility in the Tri-Valley. In addition to the overnight shelter, the complex has 30 permanent supportive housing units, and community members can drop in to get a free meal at its daytime dining room, take a shower or do laundry.

"The Tri-Valley has always had this reputation of being ‘way out there,' and that there aren't any problems," Bost said. "But there are people out here who hurt and are desperate and struggling."

While the Tri-Valley's shelter options are limited, other roadblocks also prevent some unhoused people from moving indoors. Evans said she would be forced to give up her dog, Bentley, and parrot, Elvis, if she were to move into a shelter from her trailer.

Instead, she prefers to stay in her trailer until she can save enough money to purchase some land in Redding where she can retire and park her vehicle permanently.

"I couldn't save at all if I was renting a room," Evans said.

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