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An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

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Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#211

Post by zevyoura »

beachstartup wrote: post #183
staunch wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are exaggerating. I live in Westwood, have lived in the area for 15 years. Also spent quite a bit of time in SF. There is absolutely no comparison between the two places. Even in Westwood Village you could go months without being hit up by a homeless person for change. Now, maybe you were in a hot spot where a few hang out regularly, but they are not everywhere by any stretch of the imagination. They're also noth…

yeah. i live in santa monica but have lived in SF, and these people complaining about west LA's "homeless problem" are out of their minds.

I agree about West LA completely, but I feel people are missing the bigger story about LA's homeless problems: skid row. I volunteered at a soup kitchen there for a few months several years ago, and it was as bad as the worst I've seen in SF, except more concentrated, with less normality in the immediate vicinity. This means there's less harassment, but perhaps even more complete, down and out, blatant drug use and prostitution.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#212

Post by corwinstephen »

acchow wrote: post #186
corwinstephen wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very possible I'm off base here. I'm going purely on observation and anecdotal things. Do you happen to have any hard stats off hand? Edit: I looked it up. You're right in that Latinos hold the second highest percentage of homelessness at 33%, but when you consider population size, it sort of becomes irrelevant. Latinos make up 47% of the total population in LA. Blacks make up only 9% however they're a full 50%…

> Blacks make up only 9% however they're a full 50% of the homeless population. What brought us here, and how do we fix this?

I would venture to guess it has something to do with blacks having historically been isolated from the opportunities that other races have had, and that even though things have improved, we're still seeing the lasting effects of centuries of prohibitive behavior.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#213

Post by corwinstephen »

chrisdevereux wrote: post #194
corwinstephen wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to believe this based purely on having heard it all my life. But a friend of mine recently made an interesting point: he asked me what race homeless people are. My answer (at least here in LA) was that they're almost unanimously black or white. Never Asian. Never indian. Rarely Mexican. I countered that it could be due to Asian and Mexican cultures being more culturally inclined to take care of their own, but…

When you see somebody who looks deshevalled, what leads you to decide that they're homeless? Stereotypes about their ethnicity will probably be a a factor.

Wnadering around skid row here in Los Angeles, I can certainly tell you I've never seen an Asian person pitching a sidewalk tent.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#214

Post by bherms »

lazugod wrote: post #189
bherms wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you can heal the symptom, but not affect the cause, it's quite a bit like tryin' to heal a gunshot wound with gauze." -- Phish, __Sand__ Had to plug my favorite group :)

I don't understand the comparison. What are you supposed to do to a gunshot wound other than prevent bleeding, which gauze would do?

It's talking about the reason for being shot in the first place... Gang violence, war, etc.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#215

Post by lazugod »

bherms wrote: post #214
lazugod wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the comparison. What are you supposed to do to a gunshot wound other than prevent bleeding, which gauze would do?

It's talking about the reason for being shot in the first place... Gang violence, war, etc.

Oh, that makes sense.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#216

Post by rdl »

doktrin wrote: post #207
cafard wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of homeless in Washington, and downtown some are fairly aggressive in their panhandling. I'm not aware of them in the suburbs, as mentioned by jeffd703, but then I don't get out Loudoun County much.

There are plenty of homeless in DC, but the vast majority are well out of sight in major business and residential districts. It's in part a "virtue" of the intense economic (and racial) segregation in the district. I was born and raised in DC and have lived there for the last 6 years, working and living downtown. Of course there are homeless people (as opposed to the bizarrely antiseptic Palo Alto, for instance), but…

Strangely, even downtown Palo Alto has homeless people.
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