Do you think the homeless situation in west coast cities will ever get better?

[destroycreate]

I'm not going to lie--I'm getting super frustrated with the filth and squalor being allowed all over west coast cities. I feel like you aren't even allowed to express this openly without being labeled a hateful, heartless pig. I do have compassion for the homeless, and hate our fucked up cowboy capitalist society for enabling these inequities.

But should we not be allowed to be upset seeing needles scattered about on residential sidewalks?
Express disdain for bulky encampments with massive items like refrigerators taking up entire portions of the sidewalk in middle class neighborhoods?
Disgust for open air toilets?

A massive, shanty encampment right next to my apartment complex (originally right outside our lobby, the dude was hoping for our leasing office to pay him to go away) in Koreatown recently went up in flames. Cooking Crystal Meth inside was the culprit. Who knows if this could've caused a massive explosion--what I can tell you is that the blackened encampment was left in the open and untouched by the city for upwards of 2 weeks.

I get that people need a tent and to be able to live somewhere, but I don't like that a free for all is being allowed, where people can set up shop just anywhere. Seriously, hardworking families with children shouldn't have to have their kids step over squalor and drug dens to wait for the school bus. In my part of LA, it's the norm. Why can't we designate certain areas better?

It just seems like this is only going to get worse with every year, despite more money being thrown at the issue than ever before. IMO, it's really affecting quality of life out here. Do we think this issue will ever be resolvable?

[iheartthed]

I think residents of west coast cities should solve the problems that they complain about incessantly. And I think the rest of us are tired of hearing about those problems.

[destroycreate]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I think residents of west coast cities should solve the problems that they complain about incessantly. And I think the rest of us are tired of hearing about those problems.

Did you intentionally set out to start your day this obnoxiously?

[photoLith]

I don’t know anything about LA politics. But here in Pittsburgh there’s rarely a homeless person to be seen, let alone homeless camps; except for the rare ones that pop up in the summer under overpasses. But that’s because it’s so cold here in the winter.

I don’t know what regular people should do except vote out the idiots who’ve let it get that way in LA and Seattle etc. Provide housing for the homeless and or set aside giant areas in the woods for the homeless on the outskirts and not allow homeless encampments in neighborhoods.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Did you intentionally set out to start your day this obnoxiously?

Continuously whining about homeless people spoiling your idyllic city is the epitome of obnoxious.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I think residents of west coast cities should solve the problems that they complain about incessantly. And I think the rest of us are tired of hearing about those problems.

The answer is to vote for new leaders that are less concerned about "wokeness" and more concerned with....

DOING

THEIR

GODDAMNED

JOBS

[the urban politician]

Luckily in Chicago, despite the SJW nature of the newest breed of leaders, we've got an automatic anti-homelessness program.

It's called:

It's going to be -6 degrees F this upcoming Saturday!

[Steely Dan]

One of those rare moments when those of us in the upper midwest can brag about our harsh winters.

[mhays]

Yes, and we can make a lot of progress if we want.

We can establish reasonable places for tents, with sanitation.

Then we can make sure no tent blocks a sidewalk, and there are no garbage piles.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

One of those rare moments when those of us in the upper midwest can brag about our harsh winters.

^ Yeah, the killing of bugs and the clearance of homelessness, as well as a temporary slowdown in rioting/looting and all of the douchery that comes along with it are some of the few benefits that come with a freezing cold winters.

[destroycreate]

Originally Posted by mhays

Yes, and we can make a lot of progress if we want.

We can establish reasonable places for tents, with sanitation.

Then we can make sure no tent blocks a sidewalk, and there are no garbage piles.

I would be all for this. Not sure why it seems so damn impossible for cities to enforce.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Do we think this issue will ever be resolvable?

As long as your cities enable this shit...no. I think there should be assistance provided to the poor and destitute but they should not be allowed to squat on public property in tent cities indefinitely. I never visited Skid Row in LA but SF was pretty gross. We have a problem with it here in Texas as well but the local governments are more hardlined about it and routinely clears these camps out. Well, except for Austin who is at odds with the state on how to deal with their homeless.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I would be all for this. Not sure why it seems so damn impossible for cities to enforce.

^ Because there are no consequences, politically, for leaders who allow this to happen.

For example, did you vote for the current Mayor and council members?

If so, then that's basically the problem.

[pj3000]

People just livin' the California Dream... what's wrong with that?

Either accept it or develop a new cheap drug that kills much more quickly than meth or heroin, flood the streets with it, and thin the herd.

[Tom In Chicago]

I don't know how many of you Chicago guys have been downtown recently, but the homeless situation here has been getting significantly worse as of late, winter notwithstanding. . . there are many homeless camps - which was not a thing here before. . . it's not as bad as out west, of course, but it's still a visible problem. . .

. . .

[jtown,man]

Progressives, say this along with me:

Homelessness that you can see has VERY LITTLE to do with housing. Period.

1. If a homeless person can't afford housing in SF, move. They are in the best position on Earth to move. They can panhandle for a few days for a greyhound ticket to Mississippi.

2. Most homeless aren't visable. They are on a friend or family member's couch. We aren't talking about them...

3. Drugs are a huge issue, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus on how to deal with it. The Right just wants to arrest and the Left talks a good game but their results are pretty much null.

4. Mental issues. Again, the Left talks a good game but zero will happen until these people can be put into a psych ward for an extended amount of time. The Left HATES this idea, and I get it. But what else are you going to do?

Drug users and mentally unstable people aren't gonna change based on you giving them a studio apartment. It might make you feel good, but it doesn't change the dynamics in a city much.

So will the west coast or basically any large city in America deal with this issue? No.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

I don't know how many of you Chicago guys have been downtown recently, but the homeless situation here has been getting significantly worse as of late, winter notwithstanding. . . there are many homeless camps - which was not a thing here before. . . it's not as bad as out west, of course, but it's still a visible problem. . .

. . .

Yes. I avoid it. It used to be that you could blend into the crowd and avoid being asked for money on every corner, now you can't. Also, it seems that they are getting more desperate for cash(since there's less opportunity to ask people). I was in a place picking up food two weeks ago off Canal and Roosevelt and a homeless man(with no mask) sat like two feet away from a couple who were ordering food pushing them so hard to buy some obviously stolen jewelry he had. The dude finally told him to screw off, so he left, pissed. Then, seconds later, another homeless dude walked in and asked me for money before heading towards the back of the store to change clothes.

I walk out of the business and the jewelry selling homeless dude was knocking on a woman's window saying "TEN DOLLARS TEN DOLLARS." She was obviously frightened (massive amounts of carjacking going on here). I watched until he walked away. Found a cop and told them there's an aggressive ass person selling stolen goods.

This was my first time this year (12 month period) that I've seen this in the city. It's annoying, going downtown is pointless. You'll just get harassed non-stop because there's no one else around to bother but you.

[pj3000]

It's not dealt with because it's not seen as a real problem. We don't really care about it. There's lots of things we don't really care about -- a few that directly affect cities:

- urban public education
- crime prevention and crime solving
- anything and everything to do with drugs
- homelessness

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by pj3000

It's not dealt with because it's not seen as a real problem. We don't really care about it. There's lots of things we don't really care about -- a few that directly affect cities:

- urban public education
- crime prevention and crime solving
- anything and everything to do with drugs
- homelessness

Every bit of this. The question why? Education impacts our kids, which also impacts our crime rates. Crime prevention and crime-solving is obviously a shared goal of a community. Drugs impact many of our families, we should be empathetic to this issue. Homelessness is a horrible thing to see and can be quite annoying for people with homes, let alone the issue of empathy for the homeless.

These issues seem like they would be super important. I have my theories on why they aren't taken seriously, but nothing concrete.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Every bit of this. The question why? Education impacts our kids, which also impacts our crime rates. Crime prevention and crime-solving is obviously a shared goal of a community. Drugs impact many of our families, we should be empathetic to this issue. Homelessness is a horrible thing to see and can be quite annoying for people with homes, let alone the issue of empathy for the homeless.

These issues seem like they would be super important. I have my theories on why they aren't taken seriously, but nothing concrete.

I think that since society is made up of individuals, and at the individual level, many people don't perceive these issues as affecting them directly. Therefore, we get what we pay for -- it's as simple as that.

We don't get our "best and brightest" to work as teachers, cops, counselors, social workers of any type, etc. because the money is shit.

If we actually valued the issues I listed (among others), we would pay for it. We don't. Again, it is just that simple.

Just think if our top grads from our top schools wanted to work as detectives rather than work in the finance or tech industries... "unsolved crime" would be a term never used again.