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I Used to Be Homeless

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Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#61

Post by canhascodez »

megaman8 wrote: post #48

To live in, In SF. your choices are a 1.5 million dollar condo or a 50$ dollar tent. Seriously people, we need to allow for more choices than that. I'm sure builders and entrepreneurs would line up around the block to build solutions that are cheaper and more cost effective, but you first have to make it legal (get rid of the mountains of regulations and zoning headaches that make this problem so insurmountable), wit…

No, anarchy is not a solution to over-regulation. If it were, then we would not have regulations. Markets are not a solution for all problems: market failures are quite real, and no, they are not all caused by government.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#63

Post by megaman8 »

codydh wrote: post #53
megaman8 wrote: post #48

To live in, In SF. your choices are a 1.5 million dollar condo or a 50$ dollar tent. Seriously people, we need to allow for more choices than that. I'm sure builders and entrepreneurs would line up around the block to build solutions that are cheaper and more cost effective, but you first have to make it legal (get rid of the mountains of regulations and zoning headaches that make this problem so insurmountable), wit…

The cost of your "regulation free zone" will likely be measured in human lives. Does that seem like an acceptable risk?

That's just in the beginning. Not every regulation saves lives - some are just on the books to protect rent seeking entities and lobbyists, and some are just there because they've always been there.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#64

Post by PSZD »

elliekelly wrote: post #31
nroets wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently toured for 5 months in the US on my bicycle. My average cost was $30 per day. That included sightseeing, an airline ticket every month and a bus ticket every month. I used Warm Showers and wild camping, so I rarely paid for housing. $7.25 per hour is enough to live on. You just need to work enough hours, do long commutes and be very, very disciplined in all your purchases.

Even if you live in a state with no income tax, work full-time at your minimum wage job, and live as you describe (which is homeless) your take home pay would only barely cover your $30/day budget. What happens when you get sick and have to miss a shift? Or need to see a doctor? What happens if your job is in New England where it's well below freezing at night for a significant portion of the year? It's disingenuous…

I live on less than 30/day (including rent) working a poorly paid manual labor part time job in a state with income tax. No, I don't own a car. Yes, I split housing costs with other people.

> What happens when you get sick and have to miss a shift?

As mandated by state law, I get paid for my normal hours.

> It's disingenuous to perpetuate the notion that "discipline" is all that's needed to survive on minimum wage

It's also amusing to be lectured about how your situation is impossible by people who are going into debt making 80k+ a year.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#65

Post by megaman8 »

diablerouge wrote: post #59
megaman8 wrote: post #48

To live in, In SF. your choices are a 1.5 million dollar condo or a 50$ dollar tent. Seriously people, we need to allow for more choices than that. I'm sure builders and entrepreneurs would line up around the block to build solutions that are cheaper and more cost effective, but you first have to make it legal (get rid of the mountains of regulations and zoning headaches that make this problem so insurmountable), wit…

I think you're underestimating the real estate market. A significant reason new developments cost so much is that the land they are built upon costs so much. For example, in Portland Oregon, where I live, most new developments are being built on expensive real estate in central areas. As a result the apartments built there, even if they aren't particularly nice, end up going for high amounts. This is due to non-physi…

Then start new cities in open areas and create incentives (just in the beginning) for business to move jobs there. There's so much open space surrounding the bay area. In the east bay, From our clogged 6 lane highways, i can see nothing but green and yellow for miles as far as the eye can see.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#66

Post by potta_coffee »

norealidea wrote: post #17
yters wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I'll venture into non-pc territory here, but for some reason immigrants do not seem to have the same homelessness problem, and undocumented workers can work for much less than Americans.

But they usually don't. They work harder, longer, and more efficiently than most americans and there's just as many people paying them fair wages as not. Also, when you have 6 working people in a house, it's a lot easier to justify the costs. How many roommates do you have working full time jobs and contributing to everything in the house?

If you've ever worked in the trades, you'd know this is untrue. In America, $$$ is everything and jobs go to the lowest bidders.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#67

Post by munificent »

wjossey wrote: post #25

I live in Central LA (near LACMA / La Brea Tar Pits), and share my neighborhood with dozens of homeless. Most of the homeless in my area are what I would deem "regulars", as they tend to sleep / hang out in the same spots day in and day out. I can't tell you how they landed in the situation they are in, but I can safely say that 9/10 appear (and I'm not a doctor, so I can't obviously say for certain) to have at minim…

I live in Seattle where the homelessness problem is particularly acute and I completely agree with you.

Our philosophical and moral systems aren't well-equipped to handle drug addiction where a substance changes a person's brain in a way that undermines their autonomy.

The line between "harm-reduction" and "enabling" is blurry, as is the line between "personal freedom" and a person's obligation to their community.

I don't think there are simple solutions to this problem. Unfortunately, complex solutions are hard to sell and this is a problem that needs wide buy-in from many people to make progress.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#68

Post by jaredklewis »

diablerouge wrote: post #59
megaman8 wrote: post #48

To live in, In SF. your choices are a 1.5 million dollar condo or a 50$ dollar tent. Seriously people, we need to allow for more choices than that. I'm sure builders and entrepreneurs would line up around the block to build solutions that are cheaper and more cost effective, but you first have to make it legal (get rid of the mountains of regulations and zoning headaches that make this problem so insurmountable), wit…

I think you're underestimating the real estate market. A significant reason new developments cost so much is that the land they are built upon costs so much. For example, in Portland Oregon, where I live, most new developments are being built on expensive real estate in central areas. As a result the apartments built there, even if they aren't particularly nice, end up going for high amounts. This is due to non-physi…

I have friends in Tokyo renting 1 bedrooms in the city center for $500 ~ $900 month.

Those buildings were not built as affordable housing. They became affordable housing when other developers built newer, nicer buildings somewhere else in Tokyo. Older buildings had to lower prices to keep tenants coming.

Unless there is a literally infinite supply of rich people, I don’t see how increasing supply cannot create more affordable housing.

Likewise, land values are so high because the completion over developable land is so fierce. As with buildings, increasing the supply of developable land will also lower prices.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#69

Post by munificent »

tarboreus wrote: post #41
wjossey wrote: post #25

I live in Central LA (near LACMA / La Brea Tar Pits), and share my neighborhood with dozens of homeless. Most of the homeless in my area are what I would deem "regulars", as they tend to sleep / hang out in the same spots day in and day out. I can't tell you how they landed in the situation they are in, but I can safely say that 9/10 appear (and I'm not a doctor, so I can't obviously say for certain) to have at minim…

I'd read a little about the problems caused by involuntary commitment. Even a novel like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman or Woman on the Edge of Time might give you a different perspective. I understand where you're coming from, but making it possible for people to get others committed against their will has historically not worked out.

Yes, institutionalization has many problems too, which is one of the things that led to a dramatic increase in homeless populations in the US[1] when many asylums were closed. But throwing mentally ill or addicted people on the street isn't a solution either. There needs to be some more complex system that avoids the ills of both of those.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinstitutionalisation

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#70

Post by deckar01 »

> I was overqualified for most minimum wage jobs.

The author lost me here. I have taken jobs way below my expectations to make ends meet. I got startlingly close to not making rent, but I took a job that barely got me by and rode it out until I was able to move to a company that understood the value of my experience.

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