A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America (Los Angeles: 2013, rental homes)

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Black median wealth went from $10,700 when Obama was elected to $1700 when Trump was sworn in....now that's deplorable.

Any source for this ?

Also shouldn't it ultimately be the individual that is responsible for their own wealth?

[Pretzelogik]

Take a good look at the 3rd world.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Any source for this ?

Also shouldn't it ultimately be the individual that is responsible for their own wealth?

https://www.theguardian.com/inequali...rns-new-report

Ultimately it is the individual that should be responsible but when you see the wealth of 1 race get reduced 6 fold under a President, that seems to be a policy problem.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

https://www.theguardian.com/inequali...rns-new-report

Ultimately it is the individual that should be responsible but when you see the wealth of 1 race get reduced 6 fold under a President, that seems to be a policy problem.

And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the wannabee puppet-masters in charge of much of the new "post-industrial' economy would love to see young white employees similarly impoverished and disempowered; no one really wants to hire a subordinate who has the option to say "no".

[Justabystander]

Originally Posted by YoungTraveler2011

8 years of Obama, this is what you get.

What a joke. There are massive cutbacks at HUD currently to house the homeless and initiate housing programs, along with a Housing Secretary that doesn't understand the intricacies of housing under this administration. Things, as bad as they are, are about to get a lot worse, and the gulf between the haves and have nots is now growing faster especially with the new tax cut.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

The person in Los Angeles has easy access to two meals a day, clean clothes if they want, and shelter if they want. The article OP cited is miserably biased calling President Trump and Steve Bannon “Puppetmaster” and absolutely ignoring that all the skid row residents are drug addicted and mentally ill.

That's simply not true.

"The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority puts the number at 16,600 in 2017. If you add Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale, which report their data separately, the total is about 17,800 — a little more than one for every three of the county’s 58,000 estimated homeless people. But not all of those beds are available year-round to people who would otherwise be living on the street. The combined count includes 1,700 shelter beds that are open only during winter and 4,000 that are not actually beds, but cash payments reserved for welfare and general relief recipients to rent rooms for up to a month. An additional 7,100 are in transitional programs that generally serve families and youth for up to two years and are not often open for drop-ins.."

I'm sure there are charity run kitchens but I have no idea if all homeless people have access to them, or if they serve two meals a day. And I have no idea what you mean by they can get "clean clothes if they want" where do they get all these clean clothes?

If you want to make claims, try and support them with something, please.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

https://www.theguardian.com/inequali...rns-new-report

Ultimately it is the individual that should be responsible but when you see the wealth of 1 race get reduced 6 fold under a President, that seems to be a policy problem.

Given the causes listed in your link, it's a little silly to try to blame it all on Obama which is clearly what you are desperate to do.

"The authors cite the legacy of discriminatory housing policies, an “upside down” tax system that helps the wealthiest households get wealthier, and the economic effects of mass incarceration as among the root causes for the discrepancy."

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Black median wealth went from $10,700 when Obama was elected to $1700 when Trump was sworn in....now that's deplorable.

Try another source:

"Between 1983 and 2013, the wealth of median Black and Latino households decreased by 75% (from $6,800 to $1,700) and 50% (from $4,000 to $2,000), respectively, while median White household wealth rose by 14% (from $102,200 to $116,800). If current trends continue, by 2020 median Black and Latino households stand to lose nearly 18% and 12%, respectively, of the wealth they held in 2013. In that same timeframe, median White household wealth would see an increase of 3%. Put differently, in just under four years from now,median White households are projected to own 86 and 68 times more wealth than Black and Latino households, respectively."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikshe.../#408f16150f6a

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by expatCA

There have been homeless throughout history.
It is worse now and while I liked Reagan the change he implemented was not smart or helpful at all.

Not in these numbers, not even close... When I was a kid the poor lived with their family, sometimes everyone in the family was poor but by pooling their resources they got by. Now families are usually scattered across the US. Many of the homeless who live on the sidewalks in San Francisco used to occupy low cost SRO hotels, a fair number of the elderly homeless get Social Security or SSI and it's enough to rent a $600 room but all of those hotels were converted into studios for high income singles, now they rent for $2,000 or more.

When I lived in Reno around 3 years ago, the poor rented weekly rooms in older motels for $100-$150 a week, if they couldn't afford that every week it at least provided shelter for a few weeks out of the month. Now the city is 'revitalizing' and tearing down the old motels and replacing them with God knows what, but if they leave any of those places intact I'm sure they will be remodeled and rent for $70 a night.

It's the same in Northern California, three or four years ago you could rent a furnished studio for $700 or $800 a month at an extended stay, now they go for $1400. In parts of Sac County it was possible to rent a fairly decent older apartment for $600 a month, now those same apartments rent for $1,000.

If that continues, we won't only have a problem with just the poorest people being homeless, ultimately it will impact working families who earn less than $30,000 or $35,000 a year.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Not in these numbers, not even close... When I was a kid the poor lived with their family, sometimes everyone in the family was poor but by pooling their resources they got by. Now families are usually scattered across the US. Many of the homeless who live on the sidewalks in San Francisco used to occupy low cost SRO hotels, a fair number of the elderly homeless get Social Security or SSI and it's enough to rent a $600 room but all of those hotels were converted into studios for high income singles, now they rent for $2,000 or more.

When I lived in Reno around 3 years ago, the poor rented weekly rooms in older motels for $100-$150 a week, if they couldn't afford that every week it at least provided shelter for a few weeks out of the month. Now the city is 'revitalizing' and tearing down the old motels and replacing them with God knows what, but if they leave any of those places intact I'm sure they will be remodeled and rent for $70 a night.

It's the same in Northern California, three or four years ago you could rent a furnished studio for $700 or $800 a month at an extended stay, now they go for $1400. In parts of Sac County it was possible to rent a fairly decent older apartment for $600 a month, now those same apartments rent for $1,000.

If that continues, we won't only have a problem with just the poorest people being homeless, ultimately it will impact working families who earn less than $30,000 or $35,000 a year.

Oh, I agree. Homelessness has been a problem for centuries but it is getting worse. A variety of reasons and no real solution in so many cases. The increase in expensive places, replacing cheaper ones, is simply part of life and there is really not much that can be done about it.

I know a woman that rents motel rooms to people by the week. This helps people as no first and last payment, security deposit, etc. They can pay each week with even a poor job as she charges a reasonable amount. It is beneficial to her as if they do not pay she can immediately have them out, unlike apts and rental homes.

In LA the number is so high there is no place to house them, even if you could get them to take advantage of it. Some who are simply homeless due to loss of a job or other similar situation would until they found work. But so many are medically incapable, drug or alcohol addicted or just like living the way they want and with no real rules. They will not change.

It isn't just a Gov't that does not know what to do, it is so many of the homeless that won't cooperate.

The income disparity is growing and will make things worse. A wise person will downsize and cut expenses and live where they can afford to for the foreseeable future and be able to save, not just where they want to live and ... can't.

As an example my sister in law owns a small trailer in a park in TN and lives on her very small SS check and makes $200.00 a week and does just fine. No beach and cold winters but she does just fine. I know several people, married couples and families do so on low income. No real pressure in their life because they focus on living on less, not spending more. My wife and I are in a position that our combines SS would be above average for the income where we live and could get by if everything else we have in the way of income and savings, etc collapsed/disappeared. We have been careful for years and now are doing fine and have minimal worries unless the Gov't damages SS or the economy just collapses.

Maybe CA can take the money for the HSR qnd use it to make housing, hire enough people to handle the homeless, including keeping them in a "home/shelter" if they break the law, hire doctors to help the, etc. The savings in the costs the Gov'ts in the State, Counties and cites have now would be a lot.