Real Commons.

We invoke the idea of a commons for a variety of communitarian projects and institutions. Libraries, parks, transportation infrastructure, etc. Yet a real commons is a bit different. A real commons exists as a sort of limit space to allow the survival of a small population on a minimal income. It is devoted to the desperate, to holy mendicants, misanthropes, people undergoing temporary difficulty, people who need a place to run, people looking to save a little money.

Our commons don't allow this. They don't even allow homeless to sleep in a park without abuse.

A real commons, if we choose to construct it, would function essentially as a park, except it would allow for basic life activities to function. The cultivation of food, the provision of shelter.

For instance, we could imagine a large park, with space devoted to uses by the community. But the larger part of the space, with some physical separation to allow some basic privacy, would allow habitation. Community garden plots for instance, community orchards. A few well cleaned public bathrooms and shower stalls, probably constructed with composting toilets and (recycling) solar heated showers using some purified rainwater. Stalls with sturdy locks monitored regularly. A communal, open-air kitchen, with sturdy and cheap equipment. Areas and facilities for washing clothes, again very cheaply. Free drinking water. A regular bus stop. Regular visits from a city therapist to help find people who could benefit from programs for the mentally ill or addicted. A few guards (elected? chosen?) from the general populace. Educational opportunities. Access to savings and microsavings accounts (hell, even small mutual funds, why not?).

For habitation purposes, open space for tents and cots. And the chief thing- allowing small residences to be built, very small, of no more than one room per person, with fairly strict size and construction requirements. For instance, no building with a foundation. Maybe require they be straw-built or adobe, something to minimize impact and prevent abuse.

Residents can live there as long as they want for free, but they are charged with certain duties, namely the stewardship of the park as a whole.

Some measure of self-governance. Police must treat residents as any other citizen.

Basically, take the scene of the government-run camp in the Grapes of Wrath as a model.