A friend just visited San Francisco and the main thing that left a lasting impression was...yeah, you guessed it...

[likealady]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Years ago a few Berkeley business owners hired homeless people to keep the sidewalks cleared and clean in front of their businesses, the homeless took great pride in keeping their assigned area cleaner than anyone else's. I wonder if something like that could work on a larger scale?

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/fort...-citys-streets

Ft Worth, TX has already been doing this.

Originally Posted by tijlover

I was homeless for a short period in 1972 in Denver, and back then, it was a piece of cake to transfer from homelessness to employment. It simply can't be done today, too many obstacles in their way.

One way to make the transition easier would be to not be trying to make that transition in the most expensive part of the country.

[jeopardyd]

This morning, KQED Forum had a special program on homeless in general, and Navigator center in particular as a way to tackle homeless


https://www.kqed.org/forum/201010186...three-years-in

[FrancaisDeutsch]

What's really sad, is that we have to run down the weakest people in society.

I will say that a few people on here made a lot of sense: it is much more difficult to get decent employment with all the obstacles in the way for everyday jobs (fingerprinting, background checks, medical testing, high rents, no identity cards, etc.). Homeless people don't have the resources to get these things in the first place. And if even there are a few rotten apples here and there (welfare fraud, etc.), see poverty and homelessness overall for what is: broken people in a broken system. God bless the poor!

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by FrancaisDeutsch

God bless the poor!

There are plenty of poor folks who don't behave the way the homeless do here in the Bay Area. That's a fact.

Originally Posted by FrancaisDeutsch

What's really sad, is that we have to run down the weakest people in society.

It's disheartening to see people continue to enable behavior that victimizes the law abiding residents of San Francisco and surrounding towns. I do my part to help those that have fallen on hard times and need a lift to get back on their feet. From what I have seen, those who act like they care deeply for those that need assistance have done nothing to help or have never encountered the camps and the behaviors that go on in these camps.

That being said, career criminals and addicts with no intentions of getting clean are taking advantage soft laws. These people know how to work the system and prey upon our neighborhoods knowing they will never be made accountable for their actions. The bike chop shops are a clear example of how things have run amok. When criminals can brazenly operate out in the open like this, action is needed to correct the problem. Anyone that tries to rationalize or make excuses for this behavior are just as culpable. If a person drives the getaway car for a robbery, they are charged as accessories to a crime. Anyone that enables this behavior should also be arrested alongside the thieves and charged as well.

Having grown up in rough neighborhoods to hard working parents, I have seen and been the victim of hardened criminals. There are incorrigible people in this world that only care to take from others, Allowing behavior like this causes a downhill slide. Criminals get more brazen and will keep pushing to see what they can get away with. It starts with shoplifting and petty thievery. This continues to crimes like chop shops where stolen goods and drugs are sold. The increasing number of reports on Nextdoor and in the local news of car break ins and home burglaries show that criminals are not afraid of getting caught and punished.

We need more people who want safe neighborhoods where law abiding people of all economic levels, social backgrounds, and belief systems can live in peace.