New Housing Programs seem to be just as unfocused as previous failures (Seattle: real estate)

[margaretBartle]

We are told two contradictory narratives, depending upon what model the speaker wants to deal with.


On the one hand, it seems like these homeless programs are more about bringing in million-dollar profits for real estate developers, and six-figure incomes for bureaucrats than they are for helping the people of Seattle deal with homelessness. (In the article cited below, they are described as "business leaders and homeless service providers".)


They talk about the need for social services, and how disfunctional the people living in homeless camps are. But that describes people who would not be able to rent an apartment even if rents were cut in half, it has little to do with high housing costs.



https://publicola.com/2021/04/19/liv...the-beginning/


On the other hand, for those for whom the problem is high housing costs, it would be much cheaper to just subsidize their rent. It would be much cheaper than all the social services and new construction costs that go into putting housing and support systems in the most expensive areas of the city.


My feeling is that the conflation of these two populations is a deliberate attempt on the part of vested interests to keep their hands in the taxpayers' pockets, and will continue until we wise up.

[bergun]

It’s nothing more than a billion(s) dollar scam... Nothing more and nothing less.

With all the tax and other fee increases, over the last 10 years, there should have been at least a noticeable “dent” into this issue.

Until the city’s leadership is really ready to deal with this problem, it will continue to be nothing more than a continuation of this scam, since only a few are really profiting from all this chaos and it’s not the homeless.

Seriously, how much does it cost to mass produce those “tiny homes?” As for the land for these “tiny homes,” how much would it cost to put them up on empty city/county property?

Not that much, but those “administration” fees are where the money is shuffled into and disappears in thin air with no accountability.