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There have been tent cities in Seattle for 15 years, all liberal Seattle has done is waste taxpayer dollars and make the homeless problem worse. Conservative Utah built actual housing for the homeless, spent less, saved money and all-out eliminated their homeless problem. I'm sure you'll continue to praise Seattle though.
Why aren't homeless people around the country moving to SLC for free housing?
I guess lack of personal responsibility played a big roll since taking out a loan is voluntary.
My first and third home purchases were done without a traditional mortgage...
Home number 1 was set for condemnation and I was able to swoop in at the 11th hour...
Home number 3 was a home I really wanted to tackle... turned down for a mortgage so I approached the owners about carrying the loan and they agreed....
Good thing they saw a future in me that the banks didn't see.
I told them the worst thing that could happen if I defaulted is they would get the house back... they seemed ok with that...
Of course I didn't default and for 15 years I went to the senior retirement home and hand delivered my mortgage payment at 5% interest...
Several of the retirement home friends wished they would have done the same... let's see... getting 5% interest secured by a deed of trust or 1% from the bank
Some years ago there was a condemned house on my block. It was actually the 400-square foot hypothetical house to which I often refer. The lot was maybe about 5,000 sf.
The owner had apparently sold the property sequentially on contract, taking back the property when the buyer walked away / defaulted.
As I understand it, the sales had the effect of suspending condemnation, with the buyer getting some period of time in which to bring the house up to code.
The seller was firm in his price, right down to the day the city tore down the house.
I don't understand the seller's stubbornness. Did he think the property would be worth more with the house gone?
Why aren't homeless people around the country moving to SLC for free housing?
I'm not homeless, I don't know what isn't motivating them to move there. Maybe the effort of moving outweighs the easy/lazy option of staying someplace like Seattle.
You're the one constantly whining about not having a cheap shanty to live in, why aren't you moving there?
Why aren't homeless people around the country moving to SLC for free housing?
Homelessness usually means that a person has few if any assets, bus tickets, airfare all cost real money- not to mention air travel requires an ID which a large number of homeless don't have. Hitchhiking as a mode of travel has been dead for at least 20 years- so how do you suggest they might get to SLC, walk?
From nowhere. Like so many, he/she just pulled it straight out of there arse. Sadly, many homeless persons have chronic mental illness which makes them unemployable. I'm not saying they deserve luxury accommodations, but basic residence seems humane and practical.
Some years ago there was a condemned house on my block. It was actually the 400-square foot hypothetical house to which I often refer. The lot was maybe about 5,000 sf.
The owner had apparently sold the property sequentially on contract, taking back the property when the buyer walked away / defaulted.
As I understand it, the sales had the effect of suspending condemnation, with the buyer getting some period of time in which to bring the house up to code.
The seller was firm in his price, right down to the day the city tore down the house.
I don't understand the seller's stubbornness. Did he think the property would be worth more with the house gone?
Quite possibly... not everyone has a head for business and I've seen some crazy things.
The home I bought had working utilities and was built 1910 on a 2000 square foot lot... 25x100
Buying the home did stop the process because the city had to send out new legal notices.
In less than a week, I had the place looking a 1000% better and since I was an owner occupant there were no rental type inspections required.
Also made life long friends... it was like I had arrived... age 22 and owned my piece of SF Bay Area Real Estate... even if it was a shack... it was MY shack and still own it today...
I've posted pictures of it before... I think people in other parts of the country said it should have been torn down... but the Bay Area is different.
When it comes to poor people, I'm generally not as hard line right as some of my fellow Conservatives. Not everyone who is homeless got there because they use drugs and alcohol and spent their money frivolously. Not all of them have been living beyond their means. This country does have a legit issue with SOME people who do need assistance.
Having said that, someone asked earlier about how some of them got to be homeless. There's more than one answer to that question. Not all who are homeless are moronic piles of scum who don't deserve to live. Not all who are homeless had bad luck and are suffering because of a system that stomps on them. Some of them deliberately choose it, others are too picky about things, others make bad choices and keep making bad choices, and others make a mistake, pay for it, get up and get out of it. There's never a 'one size fits all' when it comes to the homeless. Never.
I've stated it several times on this forum before that I have been homeless. I lived in Seattle when that happened. If Mircea wants to say that I'm an idiot who made stupid decisions and that I deserved it, then sure, we can go very extreme and say, yep, I did not have a crystal ball and know that I picked the crappiest roommate on the planet. That crappy roommate cost me a lot...and I ended up not being able to support myself through school, her dumb arse, and myself. At 23 years old, I shouldn't have been so "stupid" and "naive", I should have known better. We can go that route, if we never accept that people make mistakes...that we all make mistakes, and have to live and learn from them. I don't think it means that I deserved to be shot out of the back of a plane with a $10 parachute, however. I did learn from my mistake. It was a costly mistake, but I still went to school through it all. And I vowed that I would never be in that position again. Ever.
Having said all of THAT:
While people like Mircea would like to drop me out of a plane for being an "idiot", he also has a point: You change your standard of living. I got the hell out of Seattle. Seattle is an extremely expensive place to live. I have lived in Houston, Miami, Maine, and now I'm on the west coast again in what most people in this country consider to be one of the most expensive states to live in and all of them, even where I am now, are STILL cheaper than Seattle was in 2003. No one has to live in an expensive city. Your money does not go far at all. In some cases, like mine, I was living pretty bare bones as it was...what more could I NOT have before I'm considered "living within my means"? I didn't have anything. My money was spent on education. Stupid me! But the fact is, if you see that you have really nothing to speak of, and you still can't afford where you're living, then get the hell out of where you're living. I mean the city itself.
On the flip side of all of this, while I was in Seattle, I actually talked to the homeless people I would see. Not all of them, but the "regulars" that weren't all jacked up on something. Yes, some homeless people are drunk or high or otherwise types of people I would not approach, but there were homeless people that I saw every day who weren't like that. So I took it upon myself, out of curiosity, to inquire why they were homeless. How did it happen to them?
I always saw them on my way to work. I would sit on the bus to work and think about what their life must have been when they were younger. Did they have a home as a kid? Did they ever think that they would be homeless? How long have they been homeless? Do they want a home? What are they doing to get out of it? Instead of continuing to wonder, I asked.
The answer the majority of the time was that they made some pretty bad decisions. In some cases, it had nothing to do with alcohol or drugs, it had to do with them creating a family that they were in no way ready to create.
In some cases it was because of past use of drugs and alcohol.
In some cases, it was because they wanted their "freedom".
I asked one person that I saw every single day why he was homeless. Long story short, he would have to finish up a 7 year sentence before he could ever think to go and get a place to live, get a job, etc. I asked him why he just didn't do it. Just finish the 7 years, get it over with, move on with life. He specifically stated that he did not want to give up his freedom. Instead of just getting it over with and trying to work his way back in to society, he decided that being homeless offered him more freedom, despite the harsh temperatures, the lack of food, the harsh words spoken to him by the general public. He felt that homelessness was freedom.
Finally, another person I knew of was a vet from the Vietnam war. He absolutely could not stand enclosed places. I don't know what happened to him during that war, I didn't pry that deeply, but something happened to him to the point that he would rather live outside than ever live in a home again. He worked. He had his money from the government that came to him...veteran's money...but he refused to live indoors. He hated it.
There is a middle ground here. It's not all or nothing when it comes to homeless people. It's not that all of them have suffered because of uncaring wealthy people, and it's not that all of them are idiots who smell like goats and need to die. There is a middle ground.
A LOT of them have issues with drugs and alcohol. Some of them prefer to be homeless. Some of them made and continue to make bad decisions. Some of them also make bad decisions, and are only homeless for awhile. Some of them learn from those mistakes. Some of them go on to do better in life, but while they are homeless, maybe we shouldn't be sh**tng on them until we actually know why they ended up in that position.
The min wage in WA state is high. It will not afford you a comfy life in Seattle, but it will buy you a heck of a lot on the eastern side of the state. Again, if you are living with the absolute bare minimum, and you still can't make it, relocate. It doesn't have to be forever, but if you are able bodied, instead of making your children live in a tent, relocate. Find where your money goes further.
There's jobs out there. May not be what people want. May be a minimum wage job, but again, minimum wage in WA is one of the highest in the nation. It doesn't mean that you can't live anywhere else in WA state other than Seattle. I would question why these people don't leave Seattle before I feel any sympathy. There has to be a dang good reason why they would opt to live in a tent instead of gather their earnings and move just a few hours east to have a roof over their heads, and their childrens' heads.
The conservatives of the board are just thinking there is no real problem, because by gosh, if only those homeless people had been properly motivated maybe they would not have died.
I mean..apparently death was not sufficient motivation.
Some of the conservatives on this board lived in Seattle and understand that these "tent cities" lead to increased crime in the areas where they are allowed and diminished land value to surrounding areas.
It is not a question of "conservative v. liberal" view points, it has to do with an unworkable situation where some people CHOOSE to live homeless instead of follow rules of shelters or are mentally ill or addicted to drugs/alcohol, which makes them incapable of co-existing in a structured environment.
Tent cities, lead to disease, crime and are NOT compassionate towards the homeless. It is just another talking point to divide people over.
Go live in Seattle near a "tent city" for a few months and then you have a right to make allegations against people who disagree with this false solution. You might be surprised to know that plenty of liberals are not down with "tent cities" either.
Quite possibly... not everyone has a head for business and I've seen some crazy things.
The home I bought had working utilities and was built 1910 on a 2000 square foot lot... 25x100
Buying the home did stop the process because the city had to send out new legal notices.
In less than a week, I had the place looking a 1000% better and since I was an owner occupant there were no rental type inspections required.
Also made life long friends... it was like I had arrived... age 22 and owned my piece of SF Bay Area Real Estate... even if it was a shack... it was MY shack and still own it today...
I've posted pictures of it before... I think people in other parts of the country said it should have been torn down... but the Bay Area is different.
Doubt there will be a return to tent cities...
Was that the Bay Area shack I saw for sale online in 1996? It was listed with a single photo, taken at a bizarre angle that made it difficult to discern what exactly you were looking at - to me it looked like a shack.
The price was easy to remember - $122,222, which seemed to me low for a Bay Area shack.
Was that the Bay Area shack I saw for sale online in 1996? It was listed with a single photo, taken at a bizarre angle that made it difficult to discern what exactly you were looking at - to me it looked like a shack.
The price was easy to remember - $122,222, which seemed to me low for a Bay Area shack.
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