Tuesday was eviction day at the homeless encampment under Interstate 45 and Interstate 30 near Fair Park known as "Tent City."
At one point this year, several hundred people called it home. They even had portable restrooms and a makeshift store with food and drinks for sale.
But early Tuesday morning, Dallas police officers and city workers kicked out the last 80 people from the last section of the encampment.
"They came over and shut one section down, gated it off. Woke us all up this morning and said, ‘you gotta go. If you don’t, go you’re going to jail.’ So we all came down here," said Rhonda from Indiana, who declined to give her last name.
Rhonda is one of roughly 60 people who are setting up a new encampment roughly 500 yards away under a different underpass---near Good Latimer Expressway and Logan Street.
"So, is this now the new Tent City?" asked NBC 5."Actually, from what I hear, this was the old Tent City," she replied.
There is frequent violence in those camps, according to residents--shootings and stabbings, largely because of drug sales.
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"They need to let us be. There’s rowdy people who do their drugs or whatever. I’m not one of them, I drink. I stay to myself," Rhonda said.
But city officials say it's a public health and public safety issue to let these homeless villages grow. And after increasing complaints from nearby homeowners and community groups, the city is re-focused in fencing those areas off.
Yet, new tent-encampments are starting to pop up in that same area near Fair Park.
Within an hour of the official City of Dallas tweet announcing that "all sections of Tent City are closed", NBC 5 spotted dozens of people shuffling down the street, trying to find a new spot to set up a tent, all while trying to avoid being stopped by patrolling police officers or city staffers.
"This is my opinion. Let the people be that don’t make no problems. But the people who come down here and shoot off guns and stuff, that’s who they need to do deal with, that sell dope," Rhonda opined.
The City of Dallas in recent weeks has helped dozens of homeless Tent City residents. Volunteers have helped get ID’s for folks, offered them rides to shelters, provided information on long-term housing and helped connect homeless veterans with VA resources.
Elected city leaders, county leaders and health officials have made frequent visits to the Tent City camp to speak with residents and try to get them into better situations.
On Tuesday, Dallas street crews put up many new signs on concrete pillars that warn people to stay away; and in recent weeks, many new chain-link fences have gone up to close off those underpasses.
The message is clear-- underneath Dallas overpasses, is not a place to call home.
