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

latimes.com

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

#111
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

Closer to $280 once tax and social security is taken out.

At $420/week, federal FICA taxes are about $45. Federal income tax would be zero at this level. (Actually probably negative once you add back in the EITC)

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

#112
post #10

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?

>Why is she distributing supplies to a group of people she wants the city to throw out? She would probably prefer them to be housed, not "thrown out".

Or just offered a designated area where they can set up encampments without blocking sidewalks or disrupting people's homes. It seems like a no-brainer and also the least the city can do.

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

#113

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…

As others have said, I'm not sure this is a good forum to get a good answer on this subject. I have some ideas, but nothing I'd share without learning a lot more about the subject.

So, my suggestion would be to look up your local rescue mission, or homeless shelter, and ask there. While you're at it, take some time or money to support them.

I know my local rescue mission has some very effective programs that get people off the streets permanently. So I'm sure they'd know what they're talking about if you ask them.

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

#114

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…

First please note that America has fewer homeless people than many European nations or Canada. Per 10K: Germany......79 UK...........46 Sweden.......36 Canada.......36 Netherlands..23 France.......21 USA..........17 (via Wikipedia, stats for differing years unfortunately but gives a sense of magnitude) It's mostly that the US homeless population concentrates in very few areas. > How do you reconcile that with the fac…

Are you sure those stats are right? It does not seem plausible to me that Germany has 4-5 times as many homeless as the US.

I looked a bit, and the numbers really don't match my expectations, I'm pretty sure they're not counting the same things. I found one paper that compares the US and Germany and they got a lifetime prevalence of homelesness of 6.2% in the US and 2.4% in Germany (https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.724).

I know it's dangerous to rely on my own expectations and biases here, but the numbers are too far off for me. And I think it is very likely that the criteria for homelesness vary greatly between countries.

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

#115

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

Looking at his website: "We will immediately house the unhoused. It’s simple. No house? We will provide a roof over their head." Well, that was easy. Obviously there are homeless and there are homeless. Looking back in time, any plan that doesn't involve being mean to some of them won't work.

Re: " Looking back in time, any plan that doesn't involve being mean to some of them won't work.", History and Public Policy researchers at UCLA seem to disagree with you:

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/history-homelessness-new-...

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

#116

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…

You are missing all the things you need to have to get that job.

First that guy offering the job is choosy, so he wants someone showered, with clean clothes, who doesn't look like they have major health problems or drug habits, they need to have an address, and transportation to get to work.

So for the homeless, they need: a place to stay, an address, access to a shower and laundry, they need clothes in good condition, they need some money to buy their first uniform, they need someplace safe to store their belongings, and access to enough food to get through their shifts.

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

#117

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…

[deleted]

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

#118

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…

First please note that America has fewer homeless people than many European nations or Canada. Per 10K: Germany......79 UK...........46 Sweden.......36 Canada.......36 Netherlands..23 France.......21 USA..........17 (via Wikipedia, stats for differing years unfortunately but gives a sense of magnitude) It's mostly that the US homeless population concentrates in very few areas. > How do you reconcile that with the fac…

I'll point out that the situation is different too. I've lived in Australia and the USA. Australia has more homeless but you will never see 3 miles of tents on major roads or encampments under bridges.

Other countries count them as homeless but often they will be cared for and have shelter. The USA is lacking there.

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

#119

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…

First please note that America has fewer homeless people than many European nations or Canada. Per 10K: Germany......79 UK...........46 Sweden.......36 Canada.......36 Netherlands..23 France.......21 USA..........17 (via Wikipedia, stats for differing years unfortunately but gives a sense of magnitude) It's mostly that the US homeless population concentrates in very few areas. > How do you reconcile that with the fac…

I don't think wikipedia is a good source of data in this case. For one German homelessness includes Syrian refugees. Second, it appears as if the definition of homelessness varies wildly across countries, making these numbers not really useful for cross-country comparison. https://www.oecd.org/els/family/HC3-1-Homeless-population.pd...

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

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck getting and keeping a job when you have nowhere to shower and may be forced to relocate at any time. Oh, and the cops may come and smash or steal all of your belongings.

> Gym memberships can be had for $20/month or less, and provide a full bathroom facility for showering and grooming. The gyms near me in NYC all require a permanent address, NY state ID, and a credit card.

even ones like YMCA?
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