Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwardTH
It's wild. I used to come here because it seemed like a place for intelligent urbanists to share insights and have actual intelligent debate. But this issue comes up every week and it's always the same outdated boomer mentality of "let's just move the poors somewhere else where we don't have to look at them", moving the problems around instead of actually addressing the underlying issues. Total shame what this forum has become.
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Agree.
Within the vulnerable sector, there is this idea of "system taps" which are the inputs into homelessness. They include things like eviction, release from incarceration, aging out of CFS, family breakdown, addictions, rural/urban migration, etc.
There is starting to be a realization that "up stream" interventions which address these system taps can start to reduce the number of people falling into homelessness.
If people want the problem "gone" as it were, the only logical lens to take is an upstream prevention approach. Once people are homeless, they require tons of resources to house and provide medical treatment for.
Addressing these system taps takes money and political will. Often times people don't think others should get the help, like, they're just being lazy or dysfunctional, like it's making things too easy or something. But if folks here really want downtown "cleaned up," perhaps they can ask themselves if they believe in the idea that we should be helping people before they fall into homelessness and addictions.