Our purpose in this essay is to examine the relationship between downtown redevelopment & homeless policy. We will discuss how city redevelopment issues shaped homeless policy in the city of Riverside, CA, 1986-1998. The narrative case study for the city of Riverside we present in this paper is drawn from articles in the city's major newspaper, The Press Enterprise, & interviews conducted with service providers to the homeless, homeless advocates, & homeless persons. We also attended several meetings held by the Riverside Downtown Partnership (an organization of downtown business owners, residents, & politicians) & the Riverside Homeless Coordinating Council (an organization of service providers, advocates, & politicians). We argue in this paper that city redevelopment policies transformed public space into contested terrain in which the homeless became victims of business elite interests. The goal of the city's business elite was to conceal or isolate the homeless at any cost. 102 References. Adapted from the source document.