A home for the homeless discussion (a thread about it)

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by mercury6

there's a thread for this somewhere, probably shouldn't be here where people are looking for pics and updates of the Waller Creek Flood Tunnel

I have to say it's been interesting to see how the question underlies so many different parts of our forum topics. It crops up literally everywhere.

[lonewolf]

yeah it's all over social media and it comes up every other dinner conversation as well. that said let's keep it in the no politics thread!

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by lonewolf

let's keep it in the no politics thread!

I'm not complaining, because this is where it has wound up, but this is a really funny half-sentence

[JAM]

Originally Posted by Global

I have been communicating with my city council rep (Tovo), and I haven't gotten one hint of a long-term plan (her vision at least) for addressing homelessness in Austin. While I also don't think we need to criminalize homelessness, clearly the status quo isn't working. (Why can't we ban camping in some areas, but allow it in designated other areas?) And when I say it isn't working, it isn't working for me. My neighborhood has always had a few homeless folks who here and there, but in the last year we've had homeless folks wake us in the middle of the night -- apparently they were fighting and spending the night in the the little greenway near the house. Other mornings we've found a man sleeping on the tiny slice of green outside the back fence on the back alley of the house.

I get it, it's a minor inconvenience compared to the struggles a homeless person faces, and I know I will come across as tone-deaf, privileged...but if you had my commute and see the slums that are growing under the elevated portions of i-35, 183, and increasingly so many other places...with intoxicated homeless people crossing 3 lanes of traffic in the dark of night...and city council has no real long term plan, how am I suppose to oppose Prop B?

good points. wonder how many here have one or more people sleeping/living in in their yard. how many have been assaulted. how many fear for their safety or have had property damage.

the fact of the matter is, I don't care who is sleeping/living in my yard, homeless or not. I don't want them there - who would? most of us would call the police.

There needs to be some regulation to this, its hard/impossible to sort out the harmless from the dangerous. set up camps over in Roy Guerrero park and make that be the designated park where services can be provided and some sort of order can be maintained until city council gets its act together.

[nixcity]

Last I checked trespassing and vandalism are currently illegal. Please show in Prop B the part where they take 3,000 people from all corners of 300+ square miles and force them to live in a park used by Austinites daily.

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by JAM

good points. wonder how many here have one or more people sleeping/living in in their yard. how many have been assaulted. how many fear for their safety or have had property damage.

the fact of the matter is, I don't care who is sleeping/living in my yard, homeless or not. I don't want them there - who would? most of us would call the police.

Can you stop making shit up? Sorry, but the current city rules do not make trespassing on private property or assault legal.

The councils actions only allow for camping in very specific areas - none of which is on private property or within 15 feet of a residence or place of business even *if* its otherwise allowable

Like, if you want to pass prop B fine, but please stop lying about what council did.

http://austintexas.gov/department/co...ion-and-policy

From the actual current council direction:

AND, NO camping allowed:

On any sidewalk in the City of Austin
On private property, including outdoor common areas, unless permitted by the owner
In public areas when it blocks public property or endangers public health or safety
In parks or greenbelts
In and around other public buildings with security rules
In high wildfire risk areas

If you are complaining about camping in any of the above areas - Prop B isn't going to change anything. This is *mostly* about underpasses.

[sjk]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Can you stop making shit up? Sorry, but the current city rules do not make trespassing on private property or assault legal.

The councils actions only allow for camping in very specific areas - none of which is on private property or within 15 feet of a residence or place of business even *if* its otherwise allowable

Like, if you want to pass prop B fine, but please stop lying about what council did.

http://austintexas.gov/department/co...ion-and-policy

From the actual current council direction:

AND, NO camping allowed:

On any sidewalk in the City of Austin
On private property, including outdoor common areas, unless permitted by the owner
In public areas when it blocks public property or endangers public health or safety
In parks or greenbelts
In and around other public buildings with security rules
In high wildfire risk areas

If you are complaining about camping in any of the above areas - Prop B isn't going to change anything. This is *mostly* about underpasses.

You're correct that they do have these guidelines on where camping is allowed, but there technically isn't a way to enforce them since there is nothing the police can do (it's not criminalized). I am of the thought that there isn't really a reason to have rules if they can't be enforced. I'm not saying that they should have a criminal record or exorbitant fines, but there must be a way to actually enforce the rules, or they will be continually broken and not taken seriously. If you have other ideas on a solution, I'm open to hear them. I personally am still conflicted on Prop B and have yet to vote. I care about the homeless and don't want to make those that truly want to get out of that situation more difficult. However, I know that if we continue to have lenient policies, people experiencing homelessness from other cities will continue to make their way here and our homeless population will continue to grow. I also know that in the future, even if we have enough housing options available, there will still be people that choose to live on their own. For those people, I believe in having structure and the ability for police to enforce whatever laws or restrictions we have. That is to keep everyone, including those experiencing homelessness, safe. I think Prop B is too soon, but I don't know if we will have an option to pass something similar down the road either. It really is a difficult situation.

[StoOgE]

Yeah, my issue is with the poster above me who keeps saying insane things about the homeless population and seems to be fighting some strange battle in his head where Austin is mad max and were all fighting over go juice on the streets.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Can you stop making shit up? Sorry, but the current city rules do not make trespassing on private property or assault legal.

The councils actions only allow for camping in very specific areas - none of which is on private property or within 15 feet of a residence or place of business even *if* its otherwise allowable

Like, if you want to pass prop B fine, but please stop lying about what council did.

http://austintexas.gov/department/co...ion-and-policy

From the actual current council direction:

AND, NO camping allowed:

On any sidewalk in the City of Austin
On private property, including outdoor common areas, unless permitted by the owner
In public areas when it blocks public property or endangers public health or safety
In parks or greenbelts
In and around other public buildings with security rules
In high wildfire risk areas

If you are complaining about camping in any of the above areas - Prop B isn't going to change anything. This is *mostly* about underpasses.

Honestly, have no idea what you are talking about. Or perhaps you're just twisting words. Or trying to spread propaganda.

The bottom line is, your city council link ain't happening. Downtown is a mess. People are lined up on sidewalks and camping in parks. People I know have been attacked. There has been property damage. Women are afraid. Just because you don't know anyone doesn't meant it isn't happening. Most are harmless, but some not. How do we tell? Bringing this to downtown or to underpasses has not solved a single thing. Its just a trade-off, same problems still exist.

Again, one solution is to set up camp in Roy Guerrero park where city services are close, transport readily available, and then bring some order and rules. Yours seem to be leave it as is.

[StoOgE]

You know people (multiple) that have been physically attacked by rampaging homeless people?

Sure pal, I definitely believe you.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

You know people (multiple) that have been physically attacked by rampaging homeless people?

Sure pal, I definitely believe you.

It's true. We've had guests and employees alike who've been attacked over the last year or so. Comes in waves, and almost all of it sounded like results of mental illness rather than, say, gimme-all-yer-money muggings. But it's real, and has definitely increased over time.

[JAM]

Another solution, please donate if you can

Mobile Loaves & Fishes plans to quadruple its Community First Village for homeless Austinites:

https://www.statesman.com/story/news...in/7202865002/

Great to hear. 1400 homes for 119M. seems cost effective. be sure to donate.

https://mlf.org/community-first/

Here is a non paywall article on it.
https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com...017f83537.html


BTW - I know this can be done for less money. Have friends setting up in another city who do this sort of thing. This works, cause you have no one to fight your hotel purchase.

[sjk]

So, regardless of opinions, Prop B has passed. Any ideas of what the timeline will look like for implementation?

https://www.statesman.com/story/news...an/7220579002/

[enragedcamel]

57-43 is frankly a much more narrow margin than I expected. I thought it might be 70-30 or even higher.

[The ATX]

The first day that it can be implemented is 5/11 (10 days after the election). But I don't expect the City to enforce it much. They may clean up Cesar Chavez and some of the most visible tent cities though.

[freerover]

Originally Posted by The ATX

The first day that it can be implemented is 5/11 (10 days after the election). But I don't expect the City to enforce it much. They may clean up Cesar Chavez and some of the most visible tent cities though.

It's mostly up to the APD interim chief and a little bit of Cronk.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by freerover

It's mostly up to the APD interim chief and a little bit of Cronk.

I tried to engage Cronk back in early 2019 on the subject of homelessness and the then new and highly visible homeless camps sprouting up around town. This was at a meeting of a gay seniors organization where he was a guest speaker. At the time, he was fairly new on the job and seemed totally disengaged from the topic, brushing off any real discussion. I suspect he is now a bit more up to speed on the problem and hopefully has some creative ideas. Still, I am not holding my breath.

[Geckos_Rule]

Originally Posted by The ATX

The first day that it can be implemented is 5/11 (10 days after the election). But I don't expect the City to enforce it much. They may clean up Cesar Chavez and some of the most visible tent cities though.

Yeah, I think it will be enforced at the outset, just to shift things back to "pre-camping-ban-repeal" levels. Then after that, it will be like plenty of other things, where it's only enforced where it's egregious.

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by Geckos_Rule

Yeah, I think it will be enforced at the outset, just to shift things back to "pre-camping-ban-repeal" levels. Then after that, it will be like plenty of other things, where it's only enforced where it's egregious.

I mean, it'll be enforced where its visible and the people in the neighborhood have enough political pull to get them to do something and we'll wind up with the homeless population back in greenbelts/creeks/train tracks, flood plains and under bridges where they mostly were 2 years ago.

We'll probably get zero or near-zero enforcement on those encampments because I mean, what do you want the cops to do? Build them a tiny house on the spot?

[lonewolf]

156k people voted???! lmaooooo I don't ever want to hear anyone complain about this ever again