Homelessness Epidemic In San Diego (El Cajon, La Mesa: real estate, apartments, rental)

[sdlife619]

As we all know, homelessness and San Diego go hand in hand as it has been an ever increasing problem over the past 20 years. But to my eyes, it seems like the situation has gotten a lot worse recently. Downtown is only part of the issue here, but it seems like whenever I go now days, they're more panhandlers standing right off the freeway exits, at intersections, sitting down on sidewalks, in front of 7 Elevens or grocery stores, I mean it's incredible how bad it's become.

I've noticed this more so in El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, basically the East County cities, and even in Mission Valley. Just the other day I went to the Vons in La Mesa village, and 2 people came up to me asking for money, one looked pretty messed up in a sad way. Then as I was walking towards the store, there's was 2 guys sitting on the ground near Panda Express that asked me for money again! It's crazy.

The majority of these people look to be veterans of some sort, and are White guys that are of middle to old aged. Now who knows what they have gone through that has brought them to be this way, but from the looks of their faces, many of them look sick. So the obvious answer is that a vast majority of them are addicts.

But the whole point of this topic is how and why has the situation become much worse? I know SD has many programs to battle homelessness in the region, but the needs far exceeds what the government can actually do to eliminate the problem or at least cut in half.

Supposedly our economy is doing better, everyone is happy that housing and rental prices are going up (besides for me), but in reality, every time rents and home values skyrocket, this creates a huge epidemic of people either being forced on the streets because of the sudden rent increase, or families going back home to mom and dad, or staying with friends cramming up in small apartments or houses for the foreseeable future. People are stuck, or feel stuck. And the longer they wait to move out, the harder it becomes.

As the cost of housing goes up in the County, homelessness will follow suite. Just look at L.A., I believe the mayor declared it a state of emergency regarding the spike of homelessness in the city last year as Gentrification has ravaged many of L.A.'s poor and old neighborhoods. Same for Seattle, and probably many other big cities in the country. As Gentrification has eaten it's way in poorer minority stricken communities in this country, it has created a huge affordable rental and housing shortage crisis that has eliminated options for homeless people, or even middle class families to move into as these particular area's become almost "exclusive" to live in over time, thus only allowing someone of upper middle class elite in the neighborhood.

At the same time, this isn't just about people of Latino or Black decent, but poorer Whites as well. If anything, these are the type of people I see 95 percent of the time on the streets. Where are they going to live if say El Cajon got Gentrified? Or even Lakeside?

If a majority of them are on disability or SSI, where do they live when the average 1 bedroom apartment in the county is probably like $1,200 a month or more. One whole paycheck doesn't even pay enough for rent, let alone for food, and transportation in SD.

I've never seen it this bad before.

[CNYC]

Gentrification and Real Estate are the new outsourcing for this country. It is one of the few assets that this country has left. I left NYC because of it.

Eventually this country will have to deal with it because you can't send everyone away to the next town.

Maybe at some point the undesirable states like flyover country will take off due to more people moving there. For the moment though the most desirable locations in the USA are being used as a business model. It feels like people are being banished from their homes by eminent domain.

[elchevere]

definitely more and more noticeable downtown.....I cannot have a cup of coffee in peace at Coffee Bean on Broadway without being asked 2-3 times, minimum, for money...they have literally set up overnight camp in front of the Justice Building on Broadway as well as the MLK park directly across from the Convention Center and Pantoja Park....combine this with crappy pothole filled streets and the inevitable loss of the Chargers and I have to give a shout out to "you're doing a heckuva job, Faulcy"

[JohnS_15]

5-years or so ago folks were talking about how hard life is because of the recession. People were losing their jobs and their homes. People were pointing out that there was a big increase in homelessness because of it.


Now we are in boom times again. Everything has gotten so expensive. People are being forced out of their homes because of the rising prices and gentrification of affordable neighborhoods. People are pointing out that there is a big increase in homelessness because of this.


It's a tough old world for the majority of people. Having a lot of money does not equal happiness -- but it sure does make most things in life a lot easier. California is a tough place to make it all work and live a balanced life.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

At some point we will have to set up what looks like army barracks inland somewhere big enough to hold 10K people. LA will need one 4 times that size. It needs to be away from alcohol outlets and hoods where drugs are easy to obtain.

Which is exactly the opposite of what it is now. We bring food and clothing to the worst possible places which are areas they can beg and buy booze and drugs.

[RosieSD]

The situation has definitely gotten worse and more noticeable throughout the county. I was in La Jolla yesterday and was surprised to see panhandlers on the street corners.

But, it's not just San Diego: California has always sort of been a destination of sorts for the down and out, and the recession has just intensified that while also pushing people who already lived here to the edge. I can't think of any place in California where you won't see homeless people and some areas look like third world countries (for instance, parts of the Imperial Valley: I guess that truly is where people go when they have no where else).

The question, of course, is what is the solution? My hunch is that it will take "regular" citizens getting up in arms and complaining more about the situation before any real solution is found. I hear a lot of politician talk about fixing things, but usually those "solutions" only address a tiny percentage of homeless people. They aren't long term solutions when the numbers keep growing.

In San Diego, I think a turning point will also be when our main industry - tourism - starts being affected by people sleeping in tents on the streets. Visitors are starting to talk about the homeless here on sites like TripAdvisor (and even this forum). Eventually that will start to affect tourism on a noticeable scale, and that's when politicians will finally get serious about it.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

Look to the Salt Lake City model. It has been very successful.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by MarciaMarshaMarcia

Look to the Salt Lake City model. It has been very successful.

They had sizeable financial support from the Mormon Church. We'd need to find the same type of support to do the samething here. And, SLC has always had a smaller homeless population. Still, I agree that we could learn from their example.

Here's a good article on SLC's approach: Salt Lake City a model for S.F. on homeless solutions - SFGate

In California we'd probably need to do the SLC model on a state level. Otherwise, certain individual cities would be overwhelmed with demand.

[elchevere]

Panhandlers in La Jolla is not new. I have always seen a few on Girard during my visits there--has the situation gotten much worse there as it has downtown??...as for the recession, that was several years ago and, even then, it was not anywhere as bad as it is today. At this rate, downtown SD will turn into Market Street in SF within another year or so...not sure what can be done to reduce the swelling population short of bringing in a former Mayor Rizzo type from Philadelphia (which I am not endorsing)...one thing is certain--don't give out any money as it only encourages them. Let them go through the proper agencies for support....sorry if I am unsympathetic but when I needed cash as a youngster I often caddied and carried double golf bags that were nearly as tall as me at the time--was anything but enjoyable but I did what I had to do when I needed cash.

Originally Posted by RosieSD

The situation has definitely gotten worse and more noticeable throughout the county. I was in La Jolla yesterday and was surprised to see panhandlers on the street corners.

But, it's not just San Diego: California has always sort of been a destination of sorts for the down and out, and the recession has just intensified that while also pushing people who already lived here to the edge. I can't think of any place in California where you won't see homeless people and some areas look like third world countries (for instance, parts of the Imperial Valley: I guess that truly is where people go when they have no where else).

The question, of course, is what is the solution? My hunch is that it will take "regular" citizens getting up in arms and complaining more about the situation before any real solution is found. I hear a lot of politician talk about fixing things, but usually those "solutions" only address a tiny percentage of homeless people. They aren't long term solutions when the numbers keep growing.

In San Diego, I think a turning point will also be when our main industry - tourism - starts being affected by people sleeping in tents on the streets. Visitors are starting to talk about the homeless here on sites like TripAdvisor (and even this forum). Eventually that will start to affect tourism on a noticeable scale, and that's when politicians will finally get serious about it.

[Julianpieohmy]

That's what happens when you build a militaristic society fighting a war every decade. Tons of traumatized vets who suffer from depression, PTSD, and an inability to adapt to civilian life.

Maybe we should spend less money on billion-dollar failed military projects and put that money towards our veterans.