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No. And the problem only gets worse as the city becomes more affluent with gentrification, so that more and more are priced out. Then the city government does nothing so more people come to cites with mild climates and lack of any kind of enforcement. In Seattle for example, I passed by one homeless guy every morning on the way to work that had a sign "Need $ to go back home to Houston." It was well over a year prior to Covid that he was there, he had no intention of going back.
If you think that the homeless crisis is a result of "lack of affordable housing", you are deluding yourself.
It's drugs. Period. A tiny fraction are the truly mentally ill. The mentally ill out there now are that way because of drugs.
And we can say things like -- why are we spending money on 'x' foreign interests we should be looking after our homeless...but not one federal government has been serious about addressing that issue. It's perceived as a local issue not a federal issue.
The worst cities for homelessness are those with the highest taxes. The money is there.
I hear the tough love angle, but the real solution starts in DC, with taking a look at our national social and economic polices that are causing all this. And any solutions will cost a lot of money. But of course that's kind of anything worth doing.
Seems to me the homelessness issue on the west coast has a lot to do with the climate. If you don't have a home, then wouldn't you want to live where it doesn't get extremely hot or cold? It does get cold here in Seattle, just snowed this week, but it's nowhere near the cold experienced in the winter in Chicago. Homeless people would just freeze to death there.
Also has to do with the relative social tolerance over here, which is a good thing in general. That's been part of the appeal of the west coast for forever.
Sorry, I'm just kind of getting tired about hearing how the existence of homelessness is somehow a local government's fault. Fundamentally they can't do as much about it as you might think, just like they can't do anything about the high cost of housing out here- high demand causes that. We can move the homeless around and play whack-a-mole or whatever, and they come right back. Because we're not getting to the root of it.
How about let's declare war on why we have so much homelessness, poverty, drug abuse, and mental health issues in the USA. Just because your area or region is sheltered from it, doesn't make it not every American's problem to tackle together. I mean these are our brothers and sisters, our fellow human beings are suffering out there. I feel so bad for them. Let's try to actually help them, which yes may involve some tough love, and may involve a lot of money, and then in the process we can help the cleanliness and safety of our cities. Nobody wants there to be homelessness, especially those poor souls out there suffering from it. Honestly makes me hurt inside and want to cry.
Seems to me you would be wrong. The homeless issue has a lot to do with their policies, which is EXACTLY a local government issue.
The city of San Francisco pays around $600 a month cash assistance to each homeless person. They get food stamps. They get all the free Narcan they want, that they in turn sell to other junkies. They aren't moved from sleeping on the sidewalk.
People need to stop envisioning this image of the gentle, down on the their luck, forced out of their home due to rising housing costs, mentally ill from birth hobo when they think of the homeless. A huge majority of them are junkies, being enabled by a "compassionate" local government. Meanwhile, the hard working taxpayer that is funding their lifestyle is forced to walk among their human waste and discarded drug paraphernalia.
Affordable housing won't get these bums and junkies off the streets.
No. And the problem only gets worse as the city becomes more affluent with gentrification, so that more and more are priced out. Then the city government does nothing so more people come to cites with mild climates and lack of any kind of enforcement. In Seattle for example, I passed by one homeless guy every morning on the way to work that had a sign "Need $ to go back home to Houston." It was well over a year prior to Covid that he was there, he had no intention of going back.
No, a very small portion of homeless people are "priced out" of homes. Some like being homeless. Some are mentally ill and should be institutionalized. Some have made, and continue to make, poor decisions that put them in this situation, and a few -very few - truly are the victim of a bad situation not of their own making. Something liberals will never understand is that rewarding poor decision making by "fixing it" with money or blaming others never works. In fact, it just perpetuates the problem. This applies to homelessness, student loans, crime, and a plethora of other societal problems. But go on, continue to blame evil rich folks. How's that working for you?
The worst cities for homelessness are those with the highest taxes. The money is there.
The money is misallocated. $60,000 for a tent. $1 million to add a single living unit for one homeless person. It is graft and greed. Somebody is making a killing off it.
When the Supreme Court invalidated Vagrancy Laws (1972) it made people think they had a legal right to pan handle and defile public spaces. I saw one of the once homeless regulars around town last week. He can't be more than 25 years old. He said he has not been on the street in three years and now he has a nice new remodeled apartment. I asked , are you keeping busy? he said that he can't find work. There are help wanted signs in literally every store front window. He sips a Mountain Dew, lights up a cigarette and goes back to scrolling on his smart phone. I wish I was that lucky.
When the Supreme Court invalidated Vagrancy Laws (1972) it made people think they had a legal right to pan handle and defile public spaces. I saw one of the once homeless regulars around town last week. He can't be more than 25 years old. He said he has not been on the street in three years and now he has a nice new remodeled apartment. I asked , are you keeping busy? he said that he can't find work. There are help wanted signs in literally every store front window. He sips a Mountain Dew, lights up a cigarette and goes back to scrolling on his smart phone. I wish I was that lucky.
It doesn't matter if every store has help wanted signs if none of the employers offer you a job. You are still unemployed.
When the Supreme Court invalidated Vagrancy Laws (1972) it made people think they had a legal right to pan handle and defile public spaces. I saw one of the once homeless regulars around town last week. He can't be more than 25 years old. He said he has not been on the street in three years and now he has a nice new remodeled apartment. I asked , are you keeping busy? he said that he can't find work. There are help wanted signs in literally every store front window. He sips a Mountain Dew, lights up a cigarette and goes back to scrolling on his smart phone. I wish I was that lucky.
Perfect example of bums not wanting to not be bums.
Speaking from the POV of someone who's been one step away from homelessness the past two years due to mental illness, you can group homeless people into 4 buckets:
1) The mentally ill.
2) People just down on their luck and can't crawl out of it.
3) Drug addicts.
4) The willfully homeless.
I was lucky enough to have a good support network and good insurance and leave policy from my employer to get through it. I was working 16 hour days at one point just to put out the minimally viable work product, and I still work 70 hours a week to excel in work product (I used to just do fine 50-60 hours a week) due to my mind not working like it used to. There's not one size fits all solution to homelessness. Like I don't know what to do about homeless people due to mental illness, I am lucky enough to have a family and friends network that keeps me socialized enough to where I'm not one of those guys yelling at the sky in the middle of the street or mooning people in the subway. What I can say is that homeless policies should be individualized and geared towards getting them back on their feet instead of just enabling it.
you can't address the homeless problem without addressing the drug problem....
...ever notice how our government refuses to address the drug problem?
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