Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
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Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#2paywall link: https://outline.com/JV4xXe
edit: no longer working, apologies.
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#3Anyone who thinks that just giving the homeless shelter fixes the problem doesn't understand the problem to begin with.
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#4paywall link: https://outline.com/JV4xXe edit: no longer working, apologies.
The link doesn't work, it just shows "None."
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#5Anyone who thinks that just giving the homeless shelter fixes the problem doesn't understand the problem to begin with.
The evidence, from Utah (Salt Lake City also attempted and was somewhat successful with Housing First) to Finland says otherwise. Housing the homeless is cheaper and gets them stability to address the core issues (addiction, job placement, etc) with social services (which is incredibly difficult when folks are transient and sleeping rough).
With that said:
> Meanwhile, illegal immigration creates a homeless population many countries are unwilling to house. That is sabotaging the shift to housing first.
You can't house everyone who comes to your country with no means to support themselves. Resources are finite.
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#6Note that the "homeless" people in Finland are mainly people who refuse to accept support from the social welfare, this is because they prefer to get drunk instead of spending it on food and rent. The social welfare eventually suggests a different system for such people: pay the rent for them and give a special card that can be used for anything except alcohol and cigarette. If the people keep refusing that other option, then they went homeless on their own accord and keep spending the welfare on alcohol and living on the streets. Such people are very rare in Finland in reality however, but they do exist.
There is also one woman [1] who for whatever reason chooses to live homeless with bunch of luggage. She doesn't drink at all, and keeps moving from town to town with all her luggage, by walking.
Here's also a discussion about the Roma beggars you see in Helsinki streets. [2]
1: https://shl.fi/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/IMG_2935.jpg
2: https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/79mqjs/question_ab...
While giving people who can't afford the food or housing, the food and housing mainly has upsides. It also has problem of artificially inflating housing and rent prices. Especially in the capital where most career opportunities are. (Helsinki is very expensive place to live)
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#7The city of Austin, TX could be a case study of what not to do. I was remotely employed to company with offices in Austin in 2014-2015 and it was awesome to visit and walk around down town. I always had a blast.
I visited Austin in 2019 and there were homeless people EVERYWHERE. Every green space and nearly every street corner seemed to be littered with homeless people. The difference crystal clear. Something in the handling of the homeless problem had failed in that city.
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#8paywall link: https://outline.com/JV4xXe edit: no longer working, apologies.
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#9Anyone who thinks that just giving the homeless shelter fixes the problem doesn't understand the problem to begin with.
it's 3 areas:
-income inequality
-low cost housing supplies
-mental health
-job inequality
Finland seems to be tackling some of the others in some fashion via their approach to democratic socialism government initiatives.
Re: Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing
#10The city of Austin, TX could be a case study of what not to do. I was remotely employed to company with offices in Austin in 2014-2015 and it was awesome to visit and walk around down town. I always had a blast. I visited Austin in 2019 and there were homeless people EVERYWHERE. Every green space and nearly every street corner seemed to be littered with homeless people. The difference crystal clear. Something in the…
> Something in the handling of the homeless problem had failed in that city.
Or, the homeless are recent migrants from other areas? At least where i live, the homeless all congregate in biggest wealthiest cities, because it's easier to beg, their presence blends in more and also local communities are more atomized so they don't fight off the homeless as hard as in smaller places. I've heard a story of one homeless guy who have recently been sleeping on a bus stop near my home - he's basically travelling from one big city center to another, and stays as long as the police doesn't chase him off the area.