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The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

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Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#21

Post by sien »

exogeny wrote: post #2

I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they're growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots. Either reduce inequality thro…

It's difficult to fix housing supply because NIMBYs have so much power on local political activity. It's not just a US problem either. In Australia, Sweden, the UK, Germany, France and many other places housing is more expensive than it should be.

If you want to do something go and get active in the YIMBY movement.

https://www.yimby.wiki/wiki/YIMBY_movement

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#22

Post by rhacker »

th0ma5 wrote: post #11
rhacker wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can we accomplish this without being a nanny state? I see more and more that people that are on fringes don't even want to try to work anymore because they don't have to with all the safety nets in place. I don't know the answer, but I think I do know why you will go to your grave without it being solved - GOP vs Dems solution to this is the exact opposite, and we are permanently stuck. We can't go full bore on e…

> I see more and more that people that are on fringes don't even want to try to work anymore because they don't have to with all the safety nets in place. See them? Where? In articles? Friends?

Friends, Family and billions of articles

https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2018/05/05/sure-une...

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#23

Post by Gustomaximus »

DanHulton wrote: post #10
exogeny wrote: post #2

I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they're growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots. Either reduce inequality thro…

I mean, I think you're missing a key factor here: politicians require money to be elected. The poor (the folks most affected by these issues) don't have the money to donate. The rich (the ones you propose taxing) do. Thus, the only ones who can get elected are catering to an audience that does not want this problems solved in this way (and indeed, one could argue, does not care to have it solved at all). Until the pr…

> politicians require money to be elected.

I feel this is an easy cop out. And while money absolutely influences politics, votes get people elected. And in today's age of connectivity, there should be no reason a candidate can't overcome that money barrier if they appeal to the the wider populace.

I think the reality is more we don't want to look at ourselves as architects of the negatives we see. Like how many here dont like the current state of government and can say they are highly politically active in creating change?

Sadly I think apathy is one of the largest variables for poor government.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#24

Post by dawhizkid »

Zdup wrote: post #7

In San Francisco is equally bad. In the morning @7am you see so many people sleeping on sidewalks like sardines, it's pretty sad considering it's a rich city.

Equally bad compared to what? As an SF resident I would argue SF has one of the worst homeless situations in the country - not necessarily in terms of overall numbers (LA/NY have more), but in terms of what I see as severe mental health issues and drug use among many (but not all) homeless people I see here.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#25

Post by code_duck »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #14
sharkweek wrote: post #9

Long-time Seattle resident here who volunteered for several years in the homeless community. Homelessness has always been a thing in Seattle, but has definitely become a much larger issue in the past five years. I'll spare my thoughts on any number of reasons as to why we got here as a city, but will say I think we are doing a terrible disservice to actually finding a solution by lumping "anyone who doesn't have a ho…

I have wondered if the aggressive response to homeless folks doesn't stem from recognition of how little it would take to end up in their shoes...

Certainly the fact that ones own financial security is fragile makes people feel threatened by beggars - some people, you could give away everything you own and they’d still be asking for more. However I think a lot of attitudes stem from the opposite - a lack of understanding that many homeless people are regular people, or could be, or could have been.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#26

Post by rb808 »

exogeny wrote: post #2

I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they're growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots. Either reduce inequality thro…

> I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix.

Ugh, if it was that easy it would have been done already. Look at the recent wars over the best way to run an economy. Its never that simple.

Perhaps European system is the best? Or maybe they just got wealthy by exploiting their colonies for the last few hundred years so they can afford to look after everyone for a while as their economies slowly strangle themselves into obsolescence.

Or Perhaps California should be run more like Republican states - they have far fewer homeless.

The solutions aren't obvious as you say.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#27

Post by ImRichKillMe »

rhacker wrote: post #5
exogeny wrote: post #2

I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they're growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots. Either reduce inequality thro…

How can we accomplish this without being a nanny state? I see more and more that people that are on fringes don't even want to try to work anymore because they don't have to with all the safety nets in place. I don't know the answer, but I think I do know why you will go to your grave without it being solved - GOP vs Dems solution to this is the exact opposite, and we are permanently stuck. We can't go full bore on e…

Yeah we are until we stop be too greedy to help people who need it. You talk about work but lets examine how much work the richest people actually do. Delegation doesn't count as real work. Having money to pay someone else to do work also doesn't count as real work.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#28

Post by djrobstep »

Zdup wrote: post #7

In San Francisco is equally bad. In the morning @7am you see so many people sleeping on sidewalks like sardines, it's pretty sad considering it's a rich city.

For this to exist in a city of billionaires is obscene and inexcusable.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#29

Post by Jtsummers »

rb808 wrote: post #26
exogeny wrote: post #2

I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they're growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots. Either reduce inequality thro…

> I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Ugh, if it was that easy it would have been done already. Look at the recent wars over the best way to run an economy. Its never that simple. Perhaps European system is the best? Or maybe they just got wealthy by exploiting their colonies for the last few hundred years so they can afford to…

Easy things aren't done quite often. It's the ease itself that is the cause of delay. "We can do it later, it won't take long." Meanwhile, the impact of not doing continues to harm the person, company, community, world. But they keep delaying because it won't be hard, when the time is right.

Re: The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities

#30

Post by zanny »

rhacker wrote: post #5
exogeny wrote: post #2

I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix. Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they're growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots. Either reduce inequality thro…

How can we accomplish this without being a nanny state? I see more and more that people that are on fringes don't even want to try to work anymore because they don't have to with all the safety nets in place. I don't know the answer, but I think I do know why you will go to your grave without it being solved - GOP vs Dems solution to this is the exact opposite, and we are permanently stuck. We can't go full bore on e…

It takes less than a whole person to supply a common western standard of living to a person living in the west. This means it takes a subset of the population to provide for the well-being of the whole.

This is why unemployment is such a problem today. The only demand for labor is for experienced, skilled labor that can innovate for capitalists to make them more money. The grunt work the average person would want done (new construction, infrastructure rennovation, etc) is wanted by people who don't have the capital to see it happen. The rest are a fraction of the population that keeps society running.

We saw in this last century an approach to 1% of the population being responsible for the farming and raising of all the food we consume. Another percent will package and transport it. Maybe another percent will prepare and cook it if not for us doing it ourselves. The number of people employed in the industries of resource extraction and power generation, power line maintenance, home construction, furniture production, and so on... many of which are skilled professions that require educations many of the displaced don't have time or money to acquire... all combined aren't even close to a quarter the population. A lot of that productivity was exported overseas as well, exacerbating the problem.

We aren't in a situation where you should look at the homeless and say "I'm so mad they aren't working because I don't have X or Y and they could make it / get it for me". You have everything you want. You can't think of anything you are willing to pay them to do with the skills they have. There is nothing for them to do anyone is willing to pay them for or invest in them to achieve.

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