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San Francisco. San Francisco has failed time and again at taking care of its marginalized communities. It basically kicked its black population out of the city. It can’t kick the homeless out due to the laws, but it doesn’t do anything meaningful about it.
It should just be the entire state of California, followed by Florida.
City wise though, I'd say San Francisco and then LA close behind.
Anyone who denies it is 100% dilusional and lying. Love or hate California, the homeless problem here is absolutely off the charts insane and awful unlike anywhere else. I see it firsthand, everyday.
The state soon might as well be renamed 'Needles'.
I don’t know - Seattle’s homeless problem is terrible as well and is right there with SF and LA.
Except 4 of the top 10 homeless cities are cold weather cities: NYC, DC, Boston and Philadelphia.
Warm cities make sense if a homeless person from elsewhere can manage to pay for a bus ticket to a warmer climate. In fact, some cities are providing free one way bus tickets to homeless to get them out of town as a way to address/lessen their own homeless situation:
Philadelphia is an interesting case because Philly has the highest percentage of poverty among the 10 largest cities in the country but does not have the extent of visible homelessness that one sees in other places that are supposedly much richer like LA and San Francisco.
I was in SF back in the Spring and it stunned me how bad it was there.
San Francisco homelessness is very visible, but not as bad as you might think:
This story from the local public radio station basically notes how homelessness has become more visible in the past few years with fewer "hiding places" as development continues, more tents on the sidewalks, and a shift in the homeless population with families finding housing more easily than the usual druggies/crazies/gutterpunks.
Bottom line is that the number of homeless in SF has actually fallen in recent years -- 8,640 in 2004 to 7,499 in 2017 according to this report -- but who is homeless has changed.
This isn't to diminish how bad the problem is. It's just awful. But just to say that the visibility of the homeless can be misleading in some respects.
California has also passed a new law that allows SF, LA, and San Diego to expand conservatorship for chronically ill homeless, forcing them into treatment and supportive housing for a year --even if they don't want it. It's controversial in some circles on civil liberties grounds. But SF's new mayor is very much for it. I'm often in SF so I see this stiff up close. But I don't know how San Diego and LA will use this new tool.
An old girlfriend of mine worked with the homeless here in San Diego and I learned a lot. First off, you have to take any count with a grain of salt. Counts aren’t always accurate as different agencies will use different metrics to push their agenda, often double dipping. Counting people in half way houses, but then saying they reduced the population by X by getting people into these facilities, but counting them again as if they’re new people. I’ve heard all the angles played by both sides. Also people couch surfing are homeless as well, even if it’s a nice setup with family and friends. This could explain the high numbers in the colder weather cities where you have multiple generations with larger support networks of family and friends when you find yourself on hard times, something that isn’t as prevalent on the west coast. I personally know people who have jobs but choose to live out of garages at the beach. You would never know they are homeless if you met them, and they never are counted, even though technically they are.
I’m not downplaying the homeless problem on the west coast at all, but often it’s overplayed in the media. Sure there’s skid row and high concentrations in certain areas, but you could live an entire existence working and living in suburban areas not far from where they mostly can be found without ever seeing more than a random one here or there on occasion. The homeless aren’t dumb, they’re gonna be where the handouts are and where they aren’t hassled as much. When I lived at the beach I’d see the degenerates daily. Over the years they just became part of the way of life, now I’ve yet to ever see one walking down my street or in front of any businesses around my house. But seeing I’m at the beach still most days I always will see them. It is refreshing knowing I can leave my garage open unattended, or something on my lawn overnight and know things aren’t gonna disappear.
There’s plenty of programs out there for those who need help getting back on their feet and there’s countless success stories, I’ve heard many. Unfortunately with these programs come rules that many don’t want to adhere to. We don’t have a homeless problem, we have a meth problem.
"Minneapolis/St Paul, the coldest metro of the 25 largest, has a rate of 15/10k. Meanwhile, the much warmer metros of Phoenix, Atlanta, San Antonio, Miami, Charlotte, Riverside, Orlando and Houston all have lower rates of 14/14/13/13/12/7 in that order."
I would say San Francisco, LA and then Seattle for the top 3.
San Francisco really shocked me the first time I visited. I am not used to the type of public behavior I saw there and I don't think I'd ever be able to get used to it. Walking around I felt like my life was in jeopardy at times with the erratic, scary behavior on full display. Entire blocks had become unlivable for regular folks.
I wonder how the pandemic will impact this, though. We could see the same issues in SF popping up in cities that tend to have things more under control.
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