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WEBVTT SEETHAT AND VIEW IT AS ANOPPORTUNITY.I PUT A SCREW THROUGH SO YOUCANNOT OPEN IT AT ALL.TOM: RICK IS MAKING H PROPERTYLESS APPEALING TO SACRAMENTO'SHOMELESS.>> OVER HERE, SAME THING.YOU CANNOT OPEN UP THE WATER.WITH ALL THIS IN MIND-- TOM: THESE MODIFICATIONS SEEN ASNECESSARY TO PREVENT ELECTRICITYAND WATER FROM BEING STOLEN. >> I CAME OUT HERE ONE TIME ANDSOME GUY WAS FULLY CAMPED OUTPLUGGING IN HIS PHONE, HE SAIDHE KNEW THE PERSON THAT LIVEDHERE AND I WAS LIKE I LIVE HERTOM: AT SACRAMENTO'S CREAMERYNEIGHBORHOOD AT 11TH AND DSTREETS, IT SEEMS EVERYHOMEOWNER HAS A STORY.>> A COUPLE TIMES THERE'S BEENSOMEBODY THAT I DIDN'T FEEL WASSAFE AND SOMEBODY THAT WAS VERYAGGRESSIVE.TOM WITH HOMES HERE STARTING: AROUND $600,000, IT'S ANEXPENSIVE PROBLEM TO HAVE. MANYOUTLETS THAT AREN'T LOCKED UPARE DAMAGED AND MOST SPIGOTS ARENOW COVERED.THERE ARE SPACES BETWEEN THEHOUSES THAT PEOPLE HAVE BEENGOING INTO TO COOL OFF ORPROBABLY TO DO DRUGSTOM: COUNCILMAN STEVEN HANSEN ISTALKING WITH THE DEVELOPER ONPOSSIBLE CHANGES FOR THE HOMESSTILL BEING BUILT.>> THERE'S VARIOUS MINOR ASPECTSABOUT WHERE OUTLETS ARE ORFAUCETS THAT COULD BE TWEAKED,AND I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THETHINGS WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO DO.TOM: POLICE ARE RECOMMENDINGSECURITY CAMERAS.>> THAT CAN ALERT YOU WHENSOMEONE HAS COME ONTO YOUR FRONTPORCH THAT WAY YOU CAN EITHERCALL THE POLICE, OR YOU CANSIMPLY ASK THE PERSON TO LEAVEYOURSELF.TOM: DESPITE T CHALLENGES,RESIDENTS AREN'T GIVING UP ONTHIS LESSON IN URBAN LIVING.>> NONE OF US ARE FEELING LIKEWE'RE GOING TO PACK OUR BAGS,

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Homeowners moving into one of Sacramento’s newest neighborhoods are often finding unwelcome visitors hanging out on their front porches and using their utilities.Some homeless people are treating The Creamery neighborhood in Alkali Flats as a pit stop, using outdoor electric outlets to charge their phones and water faucets to quench their thirst. In other cases, they’ve been found lying down in the space between homes. “I came out here one time and some guy was fully camped out plugging in his phone. He said he knew the person that lived here, and I was like, ‘I live here,’” homeowner Rick Argento said.With homes starting at around $600,000 at the D Street development, it’s an expensive problem to have.It seems nearly everyone in the community has experienced an issue of some sort connected to homelessness. Therese May was one of the first to buy a home in the neighborhood last November.“A couple times there’s been somebody that I didn’t feel was safe and somebody that was very aggressive,” May said.Hayes Hyde, who used to live in San Francisco before moving into a row of homes behind May, said she sees the parallels between the two cities' homeless problems. The outlet cover outside her front door is broken off, but the outlet itself still works. Within the few months Hayes has lived here, she’s seen a lot.“Definitely people taking water, I think stripping wires,” Hayes said. “There are spaces between the houses that people have been going into to cool off or probably to do drugs or to relieve themselves.”Council member Steven Hansen has lived in Alkali Flats for 10 years and said new residents are dealing with a learning curve.In his experience, one of the most effective strategies when dealing with unwelcome homeless visitors is direct confrontation. “If somebody is doing something you don’t like, and you politely ask them to stop doing that, generally they’ll stop and they’ll move on,” he said.Hansen is also talking with The Creamery developer on possible changes for the homes still being built.“There’s various minor aspects about where outlets are or faucets that could be tweaked,” Hansen said. To hear resident’s issues first hand, Hansen is hosting a public safety meeting next Wednesday at the Hart Senior Center.As for other steps residents can take, police recommend installing security cameras.“A camera system that can alert you when someone has come onto your front porch, that way you can either call the police, or you can simply ask the person to leave yourself,” Officer Linda Matthew said.Despite the challenge, many residents expressed a unity between neighbors and said this lesson in urban living is one they aren’t giving up on.“None of us are feeling like we’re going to pack our bags," May said. "But we’re just all trying to adjust."