Homeless People in Antelope (Los Angeles, Sacramento: apartment, house, camping)

[My Other Self]

Originally Posted by NickB1967

Well, we tried to be "South Roseville" for a while, but I think it is a losing battle. If the Bel-Air has to fold up, I suppose that will be the sign of doom.

They're spending an arm and a leg remodeling that location. I doubt that will close anytime soon.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by My Other Self

They're spending an arm and a leg remodeling that location. I doubt that will close anytime soon.

So there is hope!

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by cb73

For California being such a liberal state, there's an amazing amount of blindness when it comes to the mentally ill.

Agreed, but some blindness comes from necessity. These folks come to California, not North Dakota. I'll admit to getting a little callous, because it feels like there's little an individual can do. Even with donations--what services are actually helping vs which are just giving out food and turning them back out on the street? Meanwhile, we as individuals who care about the city can't help but see the negative impact that a large homeless population has on an area. Even though most of them tend to be harmless, they affect people's perceptions of places like downtown, which struggles for its own reasons, and the American River Parkway, which is otherwise an absolute gem in our region. And it's also hard not to be mad at the callous disregard that many of them have for the place they live. If you've ever done a river cleanup, you know what I'm talking about. Or seen the bad apples that get free food and then promptly discard anything they don't want on to the sidewalk.

So I guess that's all to say that I agree--shooing them from place to place doesn't work. But a systemic solution is hard road to hoe, especially in a state with its own financial problems and with far more than its fair share of cases.

[Mr. Opinionated]

Originally Posted by cb73

How would getting more cops get rid of the homeless people? Wouldn't it just move them over a bit? The solution, which will never happen, would be to start dealing with the homeless people. Many seem to have mental issues, which our society doesn't seem good at dealing with. Remember the field downtown that turned into a homeless camp? Then Oprah did an segment about it and suddenly it was "fixed"--the field was fenced off. The homeless didn't get helped, they just dispersed.
For California being such a liberal state, there's an amazing amount of blindness when it comes to the mentally ill.

I doubt that it is blindness. It seems more like selective vision. Something that also seems very acute here in The Capitol City. It's like, along with the disdain, they want the homeless to go anywhere else but here, instead of just helping them according to what their life issues are. I think a lot of people prefer to think of all homeless people as lazy bums who choose to be. That attitude is actually bigoted.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Mr. Opinionated

I doubt that it is blindness. It seems more like selective vision. Something that also seems very acute here in The Capitol City. It's like, along with the disdain, they want the homeless to go anywhere else but here, instead of just helping them according to what their life issues are. I think a lot of people prefer to think of all homeless people as lazy bums who choose to be. That attitude is actually bigoted.

One could easily say the same about your supposition and indictment. From my 20 years in Sacramento I truly believe that people do want the problem to go away but because they want a humane, reasoning and supportive end to the problems that create. Sure, there are exceptions but there are always those who are unthinking, unkind and even cruel in any society. I choose to think better of Sacramento than to believe that's the norm.

[wburg]

People really like to pretend that homelessness is a "downtown" problem, and that if they ever see homeless people in a place like Antelope, they somehow escaped from downtown. It's a huge lie people tell themselves because seriously addressing homelessness is complex and expensive.

[cb73]

If you go to the Walgreen's on Fair Oaks and Marconi, it's between a corner gas station and the new mall that they're building. At any given time, there can be numerous homeless who seem to be living on the cement ledge that separates Walgreen's and the gas station--I don't feel comfortable parking on that side anymore.

I wonder if the people putting all the money into the new mall have thought about that.

[CeJeH]

New mall?

[Rob98LS1]

That's interesting, I don't recall seeing much panhandling right there, however its just been a handful of times. Isn't that intersection the most heavily traveled (vehicles) in the Antelope area? If so, it would makes sense to me why they are there.

[GoldCountry80]

Originally Posted by cb73

I'm in Carmichael and I routinely drive through Citrus Heights to Orangevale and I see homeless and begging people everywhere. I just heard yesterday that they're living in Carmichael Park and sleeping in the post office at night.

I spent a little time living in Carmichael and honestly, it struck me as a mixed income town with lower to middle class residents, ultra low in all those apartment complexes and then the rich folks or upper folks who gated their properties up. It felt extremely socially isolating in that town. I hated it. And theres more to come but last I checked, Carmichael was becoming a worse hellhole and not rebounding just like all the other communities around. Sacramento seems to be trying to improve but the outer areas if anything are getting more homeless because of downtowns improvement. They want to make Sac Town like a more exclusive place now with more limousine riding, jet flying, kid stealing, wheeling and dealing son of a guns.. WOOOO! And then the suburbs get the invasion of the blacks and the poor white homeless and any sense of low form of life that Sacramento wanted to rid itself of. I'd love to see how these homeless do in St Pete Florida where they actually cut up the homeless tents.. gets them off their ass quick enough.