A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America (sales, neighborhood)

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

If I didn't have a good job, I'd be homeless within a year or two if I couldn't rely on my family to help me. I'm 54 years old, and the chances of me getting another job that pays as well as the one I have now are slim to none. Too young to retire, too old to be hired... Too young to qualify for medicare. I have some money saved, and I have a 401(k), but that money won't stretch to support me into my 80s and 90s if I suddenly couldn't work anymore. People like to judge the poor, but the reality is that it doesn't take much to send people into poverty, and it's extremely difficult to climb back out!

If you lost your job you'd rather wait it out in L.A and become homeless rather than pulling money or borrowing money from your 401k and move to another city where you could live on whatever type of job?

I guess I don't get that . It's like some people act like they wouldn't be able to exist outside of L.A or CA .
Not saying you are one of those people but I hear it a lot from the tenants rights anti gentrification protest crowd .

"Our rents is going up and we can't afford it ! Where are we supposed to live ?"

I could name several cities just off the top of my head . I wonder if they even research housing prices and cost of living in other places .

One can even get paid to live in certain places by buying a 2-4 unit with an FHA loan .. 3 percent down and renting out the other units . Or one could do it with a cheaper house and rent out rooms .

There are even programs where people can get grants etc for down payment assistance.

[LuvSouthOC]

Sandy does raise a good point about people losing their jobs. We need to keep a safety net in place for just such situations and I don't think anyone would disagree with short term (up to a year) of assistance to people who experience job loss.

[jacktravern]

Originally Posted by jm1982

I guess I don't get that . It's like some people act like they wouldn't be able to exist outside of L.A or CA .
Not saying you are one of those people but I hear it a lot from the tenants rights anti gentrification protest crowd .

"Our rents is going up and we can't afford it ! Where are we supposed to live ?"

I could name several cities just off the top of my head . I wonder if they even research housing prices and cost of living in other places .

I mentioned this to an older guy I know that lives in my building. Lets just say he didn't save very well and is really struggling financially at an old age. He said he will be homeless if we have another rent increase. I suggested a cheaper part of town like East LA, a roommate or cheaper place like Vegas. He damm near cursed me out.

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Sandy does raise a good point about people losing their jobs. We need to keep a safety net in place for just such situations and I don't think anyone would disagree with short term (up to a year) of assistance to people who experience job loss.

Very true. Most of us will need some kind of assistance at some point b/c things just happen, even when you have put in hard work, whether it be food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, ect.... But there definitely needs to be a cap as far as time.

Personally I would reduce the income threshold for medical, move unemployment benefits from 6 months to a year (depending on what you did for a living), and cut down the food allowance which is currently running at over $1100 bucks for a household of 8. People need incentive to stop having kids they can't afford.

The thing is for a lot of the homeless, aside from bad planning and bad luck, some as I have mentioned have serious mental or dependency problems. How do you combat that?

[SandyCo]

People do better when they have support systems. Both of my kids are here in L.A.; would it really be a good idea for me to go somewhere else and age miserably by myself? We all know how difficult it is to make friends when you reach a certain age. I have enough cash saved for a year of expenses; I certainly don't have enough to even put a down payment on a house or a condo.

Besides, my point was that many people do find themselves in the situation I described. They had a good job but lost it (lay-offs can happen and no one is indispensable!), and yet they're too old to find another that will pay them the same. Retraining sounds good in theory, but who can afford to start at the bottom again when it could take ten years for you to get back to the salary you just lost? And what are you supposed to live on in the meantime?

Originally Posted by jm1982

If you lost your job you'd rather wait it out in L.A and become homeless rather than pulling money or borrowing money from your 401k and move to another city where you could live on whatever type of job?

I guess I don't get that . It's like some people act like they wouldn't be able to exist outside of L.A or CA .
Not saying you are one of those people but I hear it a lot from the tenants rights anti gentrification protest crowd .

"Our rents is going up and we can't afford it ! Where are we supposed to live ?"

I could name several cities just off the top of my head . I wonder if they even research housing prices and cost of living in other places .

One can even get paid to live in certain places by buying a 2-4 unit with an FHA loan .. 3 percent down and renting out the other units . Or one could do it with a cheaper house and rent out rooms .

There are even programs where people can get grants etc for down payment assistance.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by jm1982

If you lost your job you'd rather wait it out in L.A and become homeless rather than pulling money or borrowing money from your 401k and move to another city where you could live on whatever type of job?

I guess I don't get that . It's like some people act like they wouldn't be able to exist outside of L.A or CA .
Not saying you are one of those people but I hear it a lot from the tenants rights anti gentrification protest crowd .

"Our rents is going up and we can't afford it ! Where are we supposed to live ?"

I could name several cities just off the top of my head . I wonder if they even research housing prices and cost of living in other places .

One can even get paid to live in certain places by buying a 2-4 unit with an FHA loan .. 3 percent down and renting out the other units . Or one could do it with a cheaper house and rent out rooms .

There are even programs where people can get grants etc for down payment assistance.

While I can see the need for a safety net I can't understand people who won't leave L.A. whether it be to another state, another part of CA, or even to the burbs, rather than become homeless.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

People do better when they have support systems. Both of my kids are here in L.A.; would it really be a good idea for me to go somewhere else and age miserably by myself? We all know how difficult it is to make friends when you reach a certain age. I have enough cash saved for a year of expenses; I certainly don't have enough to even put a down payment on a house or a condo.

Besides, my point was that many people do find themselves in the situation I described. They had a good job but lost it (lay-offs can happen and no one is indispensable!), and yet they're too old to find another that will pay them the same. Retraining sounds good in theory, but who can afford to start at the bottom again when it could take ten years for you to get back to the salary you just lost? And what are you supposed to live on in the meantime?

You could go to the IE or AV, you'd be paying less money, and you would still be able to see your kids.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by jacktravern

I mentioned this to an older guy I know that lives in my building. Lets just say he didn't save very well and is really struggling financially at an old age. He said he will be homeless if we have another rent increase. I suggested a cheaper part of town like East LA, a roommate or cheaper place like Vegas. He damm near cursed me out.



Very true. Most of us will need some kind of assistance at some point b/c things just happen, even when you have put in hard work, whether it be food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, ect.... But there definitely needs to be a cap as far as time.

Personally I would reduce the income threshold for medical, move unemployment benefits from 6 months to a year (depending on what you did for a living), and cut down the food allowance which is currently running at over $1100 bucks for a household of 8. People need incentive to stop having kids they can't afford.

The thing is for a lot of the homeless, aside from bad planning and bad luck, some as I have mentioned have serious mental or dependency problems. How do you combat that?

Well that's just it. A huge number of the homeless have addiction problems. We also know that long term alcohol and/or drug abuse often leads to mental disorders so we are back to square one. If a person is mentally disturbed to the extent that they pose a threat to others, we need to intervene and that is a huge part of the problem. Some of them would have to be taken forceably and that would not be a pretty sight.

[majoun]

One other thing about this story.

Philip Alston, the NYU professor who is the UN representative touring poverty in America, is Australian. If he thinks no other advanced country has poverty on this level, he has obviously never seen the aboriginal settlements in his own country.

[MItoBH]

Originally Posted by jacktravern

I mentioned this to an older guy I know that lives in my building. Lets just say he didn't save very well and is really struggling financially at an old age. He said he will be homeless if we have another rent increase. I suggested a cheaper part of town like East LA, a roommate or cheaper place like Vegas. He damm near cursed me out.

I have already told myself that if for whatever reason, things got so tight for me here and I would be teetering on the border of homelessness, I would happily move the hell away from LA... or CA for that matter. I love my new home state, but damn, it's not all that, and for peace of mind and for my financial sanity, I will move to another state where COL expenses were normal to be. The California dream can be a nightmare for most. Sadly, some people seem to force themselves to live in that nightmare condition just to say that they are "living" in CA. Fools.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Well that's just it. A huge number of the homeless have addiction problems. We also know that long term alcohol and/or drug abuse often leads to mental disorders so we are back to square one. If a person is mentally disturbed to the extent that they pose a threat to others, we need to intervene and that is a huge part of the problem. Some of them would have to be taken forceably and that would not be a pretty sight.

It's been a couple of years dealing with a street person... his own family has totally given up on him... and all the police know him by name.

He drops his pants and takes a dump in the hospital doorways... smashing booze bottles in the walkways... walks around with paper bags with dead birds... people have bought him Burger King breakfast and he throws it back at them... when he started throwing rocks at US Postal Mail Lady he got the attention of law enforcement...

The last 3 weekends in a row he has smashed out a Hospital Admin Window... and fully admits to it when Police show up...

In California, most things under a $1000 have been decriminalized... they take him to Psyche and 72 hours later he is pushing a shopping cart in the parking lot...

Strange as it sounds he wants to be arrested... the DA even got a restraining order against him for damaging area property... but he always comes back and makes it a promise saying this is his home... male now age 31