Phoenix Homeless Problem not as bad as other big cities (Mesa: for rent, crime)

[marinezac]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Are you seriously comparing places like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Austin to Phoenix? Sure, Phoenix is Blue, but those places are leftist strongholds. When people think of uber progressive, left-wing cities, Phoenix does not enter the conversation. Not even comparable.

Yeah city council is tied 4/4 dem - republican (well one independent who causes with GOP) and the mayor has the tie vote. having a 50/50 split in the city council alone makes the city a lot less liberal than most other large cities.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by marinezac

Yeah city council is tied 4/4 dem - republican (well one independent who causes with GOP) and the mayor has the tie vote. having a 50/50 split in the city council alone makes the city a lot less liberal than most other large cities.

Not correct. Phoenix city council has 4 dems, 3 reps, and one independent that leans liberal.

[Steveareeno5]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Are you seriously comparing places like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Austin to Phoenix? Sure, Phoenix is Blue, but those places are leftist strongholds. When people think of uber progressive, left-wing cities, Phoenix does not enter the conversation. Not even comparable.

AZ is a bit of a police state that regularily harasses the homeless. That could be one reason.

[JGMotorsport64]

Phoenix has a ton of homeless. They’re not right smack dab downtown but you go to 19th Ave and Indian School and it rivals the encampments in other large cities. It sort of fits in with the way Phoenix is built, multi nodal and sprawled out instead of centralized

[recycled]

Originally Posted by asufan

If I was homeless, I'd definitely find my broke ass a way to get to San Diego or LA, where the weather is best in the world and you can have a $10M view for $0.00 thanks to the lax governor (beaches are state land by and large). I think Californians were mesmerized by Newsoms movie star looks and got a guy that is 10/10 on the liberal scale when what they really wanted was an 8.5. The government isn't the entire reason though, there's homeless all over the more conservative San Diego County, downtown and East Village areas especially, which isn't state land. I know theres a plan for 35,000 housing units for homeless but I wonder if that will ultimately encourage more. The third reason behind climate and the government is the high cost of living in CA.

I lived in Orange County from 2000-2017. There are many thousands of homeless in the middle and northern sections of OC, especially in Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Santa Ana. Downtown Santa Ana in the courthouse area is one of the worst homeless zones I have seen in the USA - not as bad as downtown Los Angeles, but with all of the same ingredients. Orange County has the same mild weather as San Diego and LA, with an abundance of social services that attract more homeless than fix the problem.

I can't imagine how homeless in Phoenix (and here in Tucson) can tolerate the brutal summer season. A bus ticket to the coast would seem like a pretty good idea for year-round living in a tent instead of dealing with the more extreme temps of central and southern AZ.

[hikernut]

Go sleep outside some night when it’s 102 F at 9pm. Then you might appreciate this is not a homeless paradise.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by recycled

I lived in Orange County from 2000-2017. There are many thousands of homeless in the middle and northern sections of OC, especially in Huntington Beach, Anaheim and Santa Ana. Downtown Santa Ana in the courthouse area is one of the worst homeless zones I have seen in the USA - not as bad as downtown Los Angeles, but with all of the same ingredients. Orange County has the same mild weather as San Diego and LA, with an abundance of social services that attract more homeless than fix the problem.

I can't imagine how homeless in Phoenix (and here in Tucson) can tolerate the brutal summer season. A bus ticket to the coast would seem like a pretty good idea for year-round living in a tent instead of dealing with the more extreme temps of central and southern AZ.

Yeah, I'm from orange county, but the Southern parts not near Santa Ana. I was hearing about it starting to creep into Aliso Viejo though. Gotta take the good with the bad if you want the ideal climate.

[Valley Native]

The Phoenix area has more of a problem with panhandlers than true homeless. You can find them carrying "down on their luck" signs at numerous intersections & freeway off ramps. They can be highly annoying in places like downtown Tempe. Much of the time, they're just wanting extra cash for their drug or booze habits, so it's best to just ignore them.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

The bigger encampments are in places a tourist would likely not pass through. Our extreme summer temperatures probably also limits the area as a "destination".

Yes, it's not pleasant having to be outside when it's in the 120s.

But there's another possible factor here that I didn't see as much in Washington, DC where I lived. I think the homeless are more spread out here.

[YAZ]

Depending on what site/data we look at......

Phoenix ranks anywhere from No. 3 in the country to No. 10.

The annual homeless count has been delayed this year until the end of February due to the omicron variant.