Homeless population in Katy (Houston, Sugar Land: crime, houses, neighborhood)

[Jana K]

https://abc13.com/northwest/

Is it growing or is it more visible as we pave over the area? What is it like in your neighborhood and what should you do about it?

[usc619]

Build a homeless shelter

[Brynach]

So, I live in Southern Oregon. I can tell you that this problem has gone from being somewhat of a problem to a huge problem, not just here, but up and down the west coast. The vagrancy/transient issue has skyrocketed. Our parks are over run and taken over by them, the bike paths, the greenways, the alleys, and railroads. I don't like to call this homelessness, although it is because it's a different kind of thing. Most of this kind of population is not interested in becoming homed. Don't let that feel like a blanket statement, many are. We have problems with our parks, streets, and public places being littered and polluted with used needles, feces, trash. The problem with crime has increased. Bikes and porch items are not safe. Many, many of these types of people are drug addicts and/or have severe metal health issues. There is no simple solution. For instance, in my community, we have two missions for the homeless but they have strict rules about no intoxication or being under the influence. They only take in the sober. Many of this particular population is not seeking to be sober. We have huge numbers of pan handlers and they are getting aggressive. When the city outlawed panhandling, they were sued by the ACLU and lost to them over the right of panhandlers to beg. They also made camping on public right of ways and properties illegal and the ACLU got involved. Our oldest, sweetest public areas are now ruined by homeless population. Our local jail is outdated and the once timber funded west now finds itself in financial straits due to the loss of the timber industry and loss of federal payments to our counties. So, counties, cash poor cannot build new ones. So the jail is full and there is nowhere to take these people if they are picked up. A new jail will cost millions and of course the only source of funding is property tax and people feel they've been property taxed to death. The city and the county take turns pointing fingers at each other over who is responsible. The jail is woefully inadequate and has become a revolving door. Some counties have discontinued all law enforcement. Even Libraries have struggled to stay open. We don't have the institutions or resources to deal with the addiction and mental health issues. We struggle daily with bikes of any kind being stolen, cars broken into, houses burgled, porches burgled. Citizens put up motion lights and hidden cameras. The police are overwhelmed. Even worse, more and more communities are being threatened by fires set in greenways by transients that get out of control and then sweep through the municipal areas. Such as Calififornia in 2017 and here where I live in 2018. It's a huge a multileveled problem that has turned paradise found into paradise lost. I've seen other threads on this kind of issu and it seems that it's kind of a foreign concept to many in the midwest. I've seen a lot of shock and disbelief at how it can't be handled. I do recommend you watch a YouTuble Video called Seattle is dying. It's about an hour long but it's worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpAi70WWBlw

[Jana K]

I made it through 6 minutes. Seattles problems will be Katy's fate. I am lucky, I am retired and as soon as my husband retires we are out of here!

[thenewtexan]

Well this is sad. How does the city of Houston handle this? How about other suburbs? Is this a problem of the whole Greater Houston area in general or is there something about Katy in particular which makes it more susceptible?

[NigerianNightmare]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

Well this is sad. How does the city of Houston handle this? How about other suburbs? Is this a problem of the whole Greater Houston area in general or is there something about Katy in particular which makes it more susceptible?

Well one thing that might make Katy more suceptible is the fact that the majority of Katy has no city government period. So if a homeless problem starts their are no city officials to complain to only county officials and if it's Harris County tough luck getting your community of 50-100,000 North Katyians having their voices heard in a county of 5 million residents with much worse problems than simple homelessness in one part of it.

[westhou]

Maybe the residents of Katy can do their part to bring resources to them. Lots of churches out there. Maybe they can open their doors and provide food and shelter as well as job assistance. They are in your community now. Instead of complaining about them it would be more beneficial to help them.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by westhou

Maybe the residents of Katy can do their part to bring resources to them. Lots of churches out there. Maybe they can open their doors and provide food and shelter as well as job assistance. They are in your community now. Instead of complaining about them it would be more beneficial to help them.

That would be far better than coming into the Inner Loop area, feeding a few homeless, then disappearing before all of the trash is picked up. All of which I've seen.

[Jana K]

Originally Posted by westhou

Maybe the residents of Katy can do their part to bring resources to them. Lots of churches out there. Maybe they can open their doors and provide food and shelter as well as job assistance. They are in your community now. Instead of complaining about them it would be more beneficial to help them.

As I said before, i am moving. However, give me your address and I will send them over to your place and you can help them.

[LocalPlanner]

For heavens sake, it's the suburbs, not the Hamptons or Aspen. Of course there's homeless people and crime. Who in the world wouldn't assume this?

That said, I remember a few years ago when the City of Sugar Land had a "lady doth protest too much" moment when they put out a bunch of PR to squelch any rumors that they had any homeless there. What a pathetic joke.