Homeless tents for San Diego (Sacramento: renter, credit card, how much)

[moved]

I saw a few tents downtown on my way home from work last night, but nothing like before. I saw maybe 20 total, plus I saw a few people just sleeping on the sidewalk.

[Mike930]

Originally Posted by moved

A lot of the homeless have moved up ECB and University Avenue to North Park, City Heights, and other areas in the general vicinity.

And now Hillcrest....

Downtown eviction sends more homeless to Hillcrest - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Rock throwing and clubs, isn't that special, violent homeless.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

This is actually a good idea

Hundreds of homeless get free tickets out of San Diego - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

I think the best place in Balboa would be the parking lot by the bridge next to the old Navy hospital. It's a big lot, and there's a back area to it where few people go. That's also away from any residential areas.

We're sort of at a critical mass now in the East Village and downtown - the city has its plans to make EV an upscale tech corridor and hotels are complaining downtown, so the city has to find another place to "put" them. If the city is going to push the homeless out of that area, I suppose pushing them towards Balboa Park makes more sense then pushing them into more residential areas.

Of course, this assumes that the city (and County) is really pushing the homeless anywhere. (Or that the homeless will agree to be pushed).

And, I also think that the city (and county) needs more than tents. That's just a short term fix. There needs to be a better long-term plan for reducing the number of homeless in San Diego County. Otherwise, all you're doing is hiding the problem, not fixing it. And, let's face it, two tents - even huge ones - also aren't going to make a big dent in the situation downtown.

I sent my proposal to the Mayor by email on 8/20 and mentioned the existing sights there. I'd like to believe it actually made a difference but probably coincidence.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

This is actually a good idea

Hundreds of homeless get free tickets out of San Diego - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8

Just as long as the free tickets aren't to East County.

Still, when you add up the costs the city is incurring right now, offering free bus tickets out of the County would probably be less expensive in the long run.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Just as long as the free tickets aren't to East County.

Still, when you add up the costs the city is incurring right now, offering free bus tickets out of the County would probably be less expensive in the long run.

No, No East County has lots of room and is less expensive. Good place to move them.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by expatCA

No, No East County has lots of room and is less expensive. Good place to move them.

East County already has more than its share of homeless people. Perhaps we can spread the wealth and give them bus tickets to North County Coastal.

[Tokinouta]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

I've often thought that a good plan would be to set up an official encampment for the homeless somewhere in the far eastern areas of the county, or perhaps some isolated area of the desert.

There's still plenty of vacant land out there, and you could buy a bunch of cheap modular buildings and easily house several thousand people. (Tents probably would work for only part of the year in the desert).

Of course, as Liz7 noted in another thread, the question is whether the people sleeping on the streets downtown would want to be shipped off to a rural area or out to the desert.

You'd probably need to have some sort of revised plan for giving out citations for sleeping in public places in downtown and other more developed areas to make it an attractive option. Maybe move most of the homeless services away from downtown to the new official area.

I liked Liz's question because it made me wonder what percentage of the homeless population in San Diego County is really looking for a way off of the streets. I mean, the assumption seems to be that all homeless people want to get off of the streets, but I've never seen any studies on this.

Obviously, families with kids probably are desperate to find at least temporary housing, and perhaps some of the senior citizens and working poor who've been priced out of the market would be as well.

But, would drug users and alcoholics want to move somewhere that they couldn't easily access a fix? I don't know. Just talking out loud.

Um, yeah, that's 1/2 the homeless. The others need mental health services and food. It would be better if we just paid more for a high number of sec 8, food stamps and call it a day. A certain sector of the population is not going to be unable to support themselves. It doesn't matter how hard we make it on them, they aren't children they're drug addicts and mentally ill. They aren't going to learn some lesson. Might as well at least cut down on the disease and filth.
Tent cities kill areas of cities for businesses, it sucks.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

East County already has more than its share of homeless people. Perhaps we can spread the wealth and give them bus tickets to North County Coastal.

OK, I agree, send them somewhere out of SDC.

Maybe Sacramento to be near the State Capitol.