Posts
357
Joined
4/1/2017
Location
Granbury, TX, USA
Edited Date/Time
10/18/2019 3:40pm
I listen to Daniel Blair and producer Joe’s main main show weekly. Since they are based in Northern California they speak about the homeless population there often. They tossed out some jaw dropping numbers numbers yesterday. 2000 homeless people in 2009. 21,000 homeless people in 2019. 2.6 billion dollars allocated in 2018 to “fix homelessness”. My question is what has caused this? What is some solutions to fix this, and what is the homeless situation in the area where you live? I live in North Texas, and honestly rarely see homeless people. I also live in a rural area and try to avoid metro areas when possible. I’d imagine the climate here discourages homeless people. Thoughts?
Keep in mind, most homeless people are suffering from a mental illness, and most importantly: people with a mental illness, and the homeless, are more likely to be the victim of a violent crime than a perpetrator.
I've been meeting and hanging out with homeless people for years and have never once felt in danger or been threatened.
Where I work there is often extra food around, and for the past few months I've been taking the extra out to the two dudes who live under the bridge behind my building. One of the guys, John, usually asks me "Did you eat yet?" before taking any of the food.
Another guy I used to help out, Roger (passed away last year, RIP) used to draw silly faces on rocks he found and sell them for $1 to get money. Roger ended up homeless after killing the man who raped his sister, resulting in his own life spiraling out of control after being released from prison.
One of the most meaningful things you can do is ask them their name... most people ignore them every day. This simple gesture reminds them that at least some of us still see them as a human worth acknowledging.
Thanks for starting this topic.
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The rents where we r are outrageous. $2,000 a month for small apartments. So I don’t see it getting any better in the foreseeable future. We rent out a room to my hard working son/fiancé and also a young lady who also works her ass off yet can not afford a place of her own. I pay less for my mortgage on a pretty large house than my son would have to pay for a small apartment in a dangerous neighborhood.
I have no idea on what is the solution. I’ll be interested to check on this topic and see people’s ideas
Homelessness is the fallout from a society that allows the freedom to be homeless.
This graph shows manufacuring jobs, but the gist is the same.
Meanwhile, costs per unit set to be built are rising dramatically.
In a report released Tuesday, City Controller Ron Galperin said the 10-year plan under Measure HHH hasn’t lived up to its promise because of the high price of construction, stalled approvals and regulatory barriers.
“While 19 projects are under construction and two are scheduled to open in the coming months, it is clear that the City’s HHH program is not keeping pace with the growing demand for supportive housing and shelter,” the audit stated.
Measure HHH, which passed with more than 77% of the vote in 2016, was meant to build units that would cost about $350,000 to $414,000 each. But the audit has found 1,000 of the units cost $600,000 or more.
The median cost of each unit is $531,000, and now only 7,640 units are set to be funded, according to the audit. All of the funds from the measure have already been allocated to 114 projects, the audit stated.
https://ktla.com/2019/10/08/l-a-s-1-2-billion-bond-measure-to-combat-ho…
Dysfunctional Government waste isn't going to solve anything.
Homeless
It's not what I expected.
They passed a new law in California where if homeless people come to the ER we have to make sure they have appropriate clothing, a way to get their medications, food, and transportation to a real address. But 9 times out of 10, they just take the free things and walk out before we arrange transport. If we taught them to fish instead of handing them fish it would make more sense, but an over burdened system can only handle so much. We have had people sit in the ER for a week waiting for a spot in a shelter, most of the time they don't even get in.
In a related story, we bought some land in San Diego county with plans to build on it. by the time we passed all the inspections, and paid all the fees, we were probably going to have to add about $100,000 to the price of the house. They wanted the road to be paved, the road to a be certain width, an inspection on top of another inspection, etc. So we are still on the fence about that. Instead we moved to a small mountain town that gets all four seasons and is a lot more affordable. Might just hold onto the land and sell it to the next victim.
How to fix it? If they build homes, more will come which creates more homeless and costs. Do you buy them bus tickets out? Arrest them? I don’t know honestly.
Let’s look at data:
San Francisco population: 7,800,000
Homeless: 28,000
Homelessness per capita: .0035
Los Angeles county population: 10,000,000
Homeless: 60,000
Homelessness per capita: .006
The gross numbers are huge but when you break it down per capita it isn’t as bad as it sounds. Take a city with 150,000 people. If they have 900 homeless people then they have the same amount as LA. The stats for San Francisco would be 539 people.
I bet most cities even the ones with a lot less favorable climate than LA or San Francisco have just as high homelessness per capita. The large gross numbers and negative CA articles create clicks, so that’s what news/websites focus on to drive traffic.
If I can make it fishing for food and living along a river, I think many of the people panhandling can make it as well. Its very easy to sit on a corner and hold a sign asking for money. I don't give them money. I'll hand them an apple or a bottle of water. That's my way of being decent. There isn't one answer to the problem. There never will be. I just remember I was once there and try showing some compassion for the ones that look like they could use a gesture of kindness.
Just giving a couple of dollars to a homeless person does nothing but makes you feel better about yourself and encourages the behavior. Of course every situation is different, but wouldn't you rather serve a larger community than just one or two? If you really want to help, volunteer at a shelter, or donate money to a shelter so they can help more people and families.
If the numbers keep going up, and politicians keep throwing $millions at the problem, obviously that isn't the right solution. I don't have the solution either, I just know the current course is the wrong course.
There isn't a huge number of homeless where I live, but it's very seasonal so summers see more. I've seen some things in my life regarding homelessness that I'll never forget, most recently last Christmas season in Argentina. I won't even describe it here.
Pit Row
I do see allot of scammers at highway exit ramps.
I say scammers as I have them at my neighborhood highway ramps.
I have seen them park their fairly new cars nearby an casually walk to their job at the highway ramp.
That or their friend drops them off and parks.
So I bicycled over to the highway one day snd there was one scammer sitting near the highway so I went over to chat.
He seemed unbothered by my asking him questions.
I asked how much he makes in a day and $300 on average and allot of water was his response.
Local police cannot do anything because the ACLU filed and won a court case against arresting panhandlers in the city.
I have spoke to my councilmen and suggested they use vagrancy loitering or littering to remove tge scammers . Just last nite I saw police towing the one scammers car and arresting him at the highway.
Dont get me wrong I feel for the people sleeping on the sidewalks I see daily but the highway scammers I do not.
I still work and am completely fubar in crooked bones from moto
How about people work instead of asking me for handout
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