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Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

latimes.com

61–70 of 404 posts

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#61
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do those jobs pay enough for housing + commute?

Do those jobs pay so little that it is better to not have a job at all?

What's the incentive to get a job if you're still going to be homeless? If you stay homeless you're eventually going to get fired too.

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#62

Todd said she had gone to the overpass to distribute sandwiches, potato chips and water to people living at the freeway encampment. Todd’s lawsuit accuses the city of allowing the encampment at the 101 overpass on Gower to remain for a “substantial amount of time,” Why is she distributing supplies to a group of people she wants the city to throw out?

Very few people want to “throw out” homeless people. The reductionist vitriol is common, but unhelpful for a productive discussion.

Really? I'd say a large percentage of people would want that if an encampment appeared next to their house.

In fact, that's probably the reason the homeless were living by a freeway. Anywhere near where people live would see them hassled by police or exposed to violence and harassment.

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#63

As a non-American person living in the US, I fail to understand one thing about its society. When I walk around town I see tons and tons of places advertising jobs, for simple stuff like kitchen, moving stuff around, etc. I even recently saw a store with a "talk to the manager and start working right now" sign. And then I walk around the streets and see all these homeless. It seems like a paradox to me, but I am obvi…

>Anybody would please be able to point me at what I'm missing? I strongly suspect that this is absolutely the wrong place to ask. I do remember a time without homeless people however.

> I do remember a time without homeless people however.

It seems more likely that you remember a time in which you weren't aware of, or weren't exposed to the presence of, homeless people. Homelessness is a serious problem that gets worse as its handling is abysmally bungled, but it is not a new problem.

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#64
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, that job may not offer the person any net quality-of-life improvements. Flipping that burger for 30 hours a week does not give them enough money to find housing. Now they're still broke but they're also tired, smelly, and angry.

>Flipping that burger for 30 hours a week does not give them enough money to find housing. Now they're still broke but they're also tired, smelly, and angry. But now they still have $420 (based on CA's minimum wage of $14) more in their pocket?

Panhandling can earn more than minimum wage, and you have no boss or responsibilities.

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#65
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, that job may not offer the person any net quality-of-life improvements. Flipping that burger for 30 hours a week does not give them enough money to find housing. Now they're still broke but they're also tired, smelly, and angry.

>Flipping that burger for 30 hours a week does not give them enough money to find housing. Now they're still broke but they're also tired, smelly, and angry. But now they still have $420 (based on CA's minimum wage of $14) more in their pocket?

Yeah, but they're still homeless, and unless you can find a place eventually you'll get fired. It may also be that you can get more than 400$/week panhandling. That's only 57$/day.

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#66

As a non-American person living in the US, I fail to understand one thing about its society. When I walk around town I see tons and tons of places advertising jobs, for simple stuff like kitchen, moving stuff around, etc. I even recently saw a store with a "talk to the manager and start working right now" sign. And then I walk around the streets and see all these homeless. It seems like a paradox to me, but I am obvi…

Do those jobs pay enough for housing + commute?

Some of them probably do. But if you're a homeless person who has lived without "housing + commute", the equation may seem different. Why the fuck do I want to spend most of my day in some shitty job, so that I can cover "housing + commute", whose main purpose is to uphold this identity built around the shitty job?

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#67
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do those jobs pay so little that it is better to not have a job at all?

What's the incentive to get a job if you're still going to be homeless? If you stay homeless you're eventually going to get fired too.

I don't know, maybe being able to buy food is an incentive?

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#68

Todd said she had gone to the overpass to distribute sandwiches, potato chips and water to people living at the freeway encampment. Todd’s lawsuit accuses the city of allowing the encampment at the 101 overpass on Gower to remain for a “substantial amount of time,” Why is she distributing supplies to a group of people she wants the city to throw out?

I thought it seemed odd or hypocritical at first but I believe she is actually attempting to force the city to improve conditions for the homeless, more than seeking to enforce clear sidewalks for the sake of accessibility.

Whatever the motivation of the lawsuit, the blocking of sidewalks is a legitimate complaint that has come up in other cities such as Portland. Disabled people can’t easily just go around a blocked sidewalk, and anyone else blocking a sidewalk like a homeowner or construction firm would be fined a great deal (like the city did to the federal government last year over fences by the courthouse, up to $500 a day).

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#69

Kevin Paffrath has some ideas for solving this. The Democratic Party seems bent on preventing him from having a fair shot.

I downvoted because this reeks of astroturfing. The candidate in question seems not to be serious (based on the wildly impractical/implausible policy proposals) and I really wonder if this run is just a stunt to promote his youtube channel. Novelty candidates are often publicity seekers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Paffrath

I could be wrong, of course. Perhaps you'd care to explain how you see his National Guard deployment or other proposals working.

Re: Woman sues L.A. after being struck by car on a street where tents block sidewalk

#70

Many Californians are struggling with the ultimate internal battle: Posturing about caring for the homeless while doing everything in their power to prevent housing from getting built. Because density "hurts the vibe of the neighborhood." Outsiders make fun of California for being overly progressive, but it's entirely surface level. Most are conservative beyond performative actions.

How much housing would need to be built for homelessness resolution?
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