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Please don't presume I am representing myself as speaking for everyone. I've given no indication that I am speaking for anyone other than myself or contributing anything other than my own opinion.
That is correct. So far you have misrepresented my suggestion, to create a straw man to strike down, while presenting nothing of value. At least I am making an effort to be creative.
When you have ideas of your own to contribute I look forward to hearing them.
Aloha, are these examples of what you were talking about as alternative ways of how we can help homeless? And cost effective ways to help them help themselves too?
Now with dignity village, the believe i read something in the past about Dignity that the only reason they are so far out by the airport wasn't because no one wanted them to establish a home. Infact the city said if you can come up with the money to buy land you will have a home. The problem was they earned the money to buy land then NIMBY happened.
I took sometime to research this because i wantted to show thats its easy to fall on stereotypes and fear to justify anything. This kinda supports OpenDs view about sub culture. Hope this kinda raises some awareness?
Aloha, are these examples of what you were talking about as alternative ways of how we can help homeless? And cost effective ways to help them help themselves too?
Now with dignity village, the believe i read something in the past about Dignity that the only reason they are so far out by the airport wasn't because no one wanted them to establish a home. Infact the city said if you can come up with the money to buy land you will have a home. The problem was they earned the money to buy land then NIMBY happened.
I've only watched a few minutes of the videos, but I've read about Dignity Village, which has been around since 2000. As a self-organized and self-managing intentional community of about 65 currently, with a 501c3 non-profit status and a stable relationship with the city I say, "more power to them."
I think it's a pretty cheap settlement, basic and unconventional in nature. The City of Portland owns the land, a bit over an acre, seven miles out from downtown, which is designated legally as a campground, and is operated by Dignity Village under a contract with the city. The org pays for their electrical service, water, and sewer service for the shower and kitchen drains, while portable toilets handle human waste. The village does not allow drugs or alcohol on the grounds, or nearby, and is peaceful and stable. I think it's a testimony to the intelligence and the willpower of the homeless people who have been leaders of their movement to create a "non-standard" solution to their issues.
I'm a big proponent of workability, so that's the yardstick I use to evaluate projects like this. Without having taken a deep look, but just a quick scan, this project looks quite workable. But you can't just slavishly rubber stamp their plan and expect the copy to succeed. You have to have natural leadership emerge within the group, and they have to gain the cooperation and participation of the community and the government. And that means that the direction the group takes could be different from this one. The next one might include children, or might favor more permanent buildings, but maybe not. But when the group decides on their vision and direction together, it has a much better chance of succeeding than if they're just handed a notebook full of approved plans and regulations.
...... it occurs to me that boarding houses and weekly rentals were common well into the second half of the 20th century, although they seem in short supply today. I wonder why?...............
Mostly it s because of local governments taking such good care of the tenant population that it has become very difficult to get a tenant out if they are difficult, destructive, or even not paying rent. Hawaii is one of the states where it is the most difficult to remove a tenant. No one wants to get pay for the first week's rent and then spend the next 6 months trying to get that tenant removed if the tenant isn't a good fit for the household..
When boarding houses were common, if a tenant didn't pay or caused trouble, all that was necessary was to chuck his suitcase out onto the lawn and to call the police if he came back and tried to force is way in. Today in Hawaii, that problem tenant has more rights than the homeowner does.
All over the USA, rooming and boarding houses have been made illegal. I can't think of why that would be unless the rooming houses were causing a substantial amount of trouble of some sort or another. They haven't been banned in so many cities just because the city council was bored and wanted something to do.
Mostly it s because of local governments taking such good care of the tenant population that it has become very difficult to get a tenant out if they are difficult, destructive, or even not paying rent. Hawaii is one of the states where it is the most difficult to remove a tenant. No one wants to get pay for the first week's rent and then spend the next 6 months trying to get that tenant removed if the tenant isn't a good fit for the household..
Thanks, I think that's an important point, and one that needs to be examined carefully for possible unintended consequences. If eviction laws favor the tenant too much, it obviously could reduce the available housing pool because owners don't want the potential hassle. And I can see that tipping the balance of the law back toward the owner could have a positive effect on the rental stock. How about a 3 day Notice to Pay or Quit and a 10 Day Eviction if it's for a room in the house the owner lives in? Think more owners would be interested in renting rooms if that were in effect?
Quote:
When boarding houses were common, if a tenant didn't pay or caused trouble, all that was necessary was to chuck his suitcase out onto the lawn and to call the police if he came back and tried to force is way in. Today in Hawaii, that problem tenant has more rights than the homeowner does.
This, of course, is the most sensitive area, and the one where I think a rule change could have the most impact. People who rent rooms in their home should have the ability to get a non-paying or rule-breaking tenant out of their house more quickly and more easily than they can now.
Quote:
All over the USA, rooming and boarding houses have been made illegal. I can't think of why that would be unless the rooming houses were causing a substantial amount of trouble of some sort or another. They haven't been banned in so many cities just because the city council was bored and wanted something to do.
I discovered some interesting things while digging deeper into this. There's a definite connection that many others have seen between the decline in SROs (Single Room Occupancy)... to use the designation professionals use to designate simple hotel rooms and boarding rooms without kitchens or private baths... and the rise in homelessness. More on that later.
And though banned in certain zoning areas and suburbs, or limited to existing facilities or areas, and subject to licensing and inspection wherever they are allowed, SROs are actually still legal in many American cities, and surprisingly, are even at the early stages of what could become a comeback in some places.
It turns out the reasons SROs passed out of fashion are complex, but chief among them were fire and health safety concerns, the failure of communities to provide care facilities for the mentally ill who were deinstitutionalized in the mid-70s, and the countrywide push to make all housing conform to middle-class standards. And the reason SROs are now coming back into focus is the stark realization that tens of thousands of people who used to have access to cheap basic housing, in the form of small private rooms with shared toilets and baths, are now sleeping on the streets because the supply of that form of housing has been so diminished.
On another note, on the mainland the rise of low cost motels along with the building of the interstate highway system created a widespread alternative to weekly apartments, and they're still used that way today, but they're more expensive, because they're larger than typical SROs and have private bathrooms for each unit. In any case, alas, there are very few (any?) places in Hawai'i that fill that bill today. You can't just stay at a Motel 6 until you get first and last month's rent together for a real apartment, because there aren't any Motel 6s in Hawai'i.
Aloha, are these examples of what you were talking about as alternative ways of how we can help homeless? And cost effective ways to help them help themselves too?
I'm familiar with a similar street paper called "Real Change" in Seattle. It provides employment to about 300 homeless and low income vendors, like people on small disability incomes, who sell 16K - 22K copies each month. The papers sell for $2 each, and the vendors pay 60 cents for them, keeping the difference, plus tips, if any. Where these folks used to say "Spare Change?" to passing pedestrians, they now say "Real Change!"
It's a $1.1 million a year not-for-profit operation, which gets no government funding, only a small foundation grant, plus charitable donations from the community.
A key thing to understand is that although the income each vendor makes is not large, it is nevertheless welcome and important to people who have little to no other income. And the collateral benefits are possibly even more important, as they have to be clean and adhere to a code of conduct that imposes some discipline into an often fairly random life. It also builds self-respect and a sense of independence, which are important elements to build toward a successful transition back into the mainstream. Going from no job to a full job can be stressful enough to defeat the effort, while a transitional job like selling Real Change can provide a valuable stepping stone.
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