Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson gained national attention this summer when he proposed buying one-way airfare out of Alaska's largest city for anyone without housing who wanted to leave before winter.
Now, with the first snow just weeks away, those free tickets are nowhere in sight and the city is scrambling to pull together a grab bag of housing options for its more than 3,000 unsheltered residents. The city’s mass shelter in a sports arena closed after complaints from neighbors about bad behavior and bickering between the city’s liberal Assembly and conservative mayor killed hopes for a new permanent shelter and navigation center to take its place.
