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How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

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Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#31

Post by michaelchisari »

iambateman wrote: post #2

homelessness is tough. In our medium size city (Columbia, SC) we have roughly 1,400 homeless and no one (myself included) seems to know what to do. I feel like affordable/free housing has been tried before, and you end up with "projects" with a drug problem. I wonder how they expect this will be different. Am I off here? Does it not seem naive to say: "they're homeless, so let's just give them an apartment and say ou…

> you end up with "projects" with a drug problem.

That's why you don't house everyone together. This is something that America's War on Poverty got very wrong. You have to decentralize extreme poverty.

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#32

Post by chimeracoder »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #28
chimeracoder wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are plenty. Here's the first hit on Google: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/nyregion/for-some-landlord... > The city’s Department of Homeless Services pays many times the amount the rooms would usually rent for — spending over $3,000 a month for each threadbare room without a bathroom or kitchen — because of an acute shortage in shelters for homeless men and women. Indeed, the amount the city pays.. has…

Thanks for that! I wasn't aware that the end result was essentially a privatized shelter system.

> I wasn't aware that the end result was essentially a privatized shelter system.

For the record, a privatized shelter system isn't inherently a bad thing. Private shelters are an integral part of addressing homelessness in many cities.

The problem is that this particular program is an unbelievably inefficient route to that end result, and it also does so in a way that eats away at existing inventory for long-term tenants.

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#33

Post by themartorana »

wolf550e wrote: post #24
JBReefer wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that doesn't really matter, because in terms of politcal capital, UBI is never, ever going to happen.

Imagine our technology got so good that housing, clothing and feeding most of the population is affordable without raising taxes, as in Star Trek.

It will. My theory is that it comes from solar energy. As soon as electricity generation comes to a near-zero cost, and a huge part of manufacturing cost is energy, (and the other largest cost, humans, is also displaced) we start to rapidly move to a place where traditional economies as we know them start to crumble, and we are forced (perhaps kicking and screaming) to accept that we simply can't have Full Employment (maybe not even half). After that providing people with basic rights that include housing, healthcare, etc., becomes low-cost enough that not doing so is much more detrimental.

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#34

Post by ptaipale »

Chathamization wrote: post #7
iambateman wrote: post #2

homelessness is tough. In our medium size city (Columbia, SC) we have roughly 1,400 homeless and no one (myself included) seems to know what to do. I feel like affordable/free housing has been tried before, and you end up with "projects" with a drug problem. I wonder how they expect this will be different. Am I off here? Does it not seem naive to say: "they're homeless, so let's just give them an apartment and say ou…

> you end up with "projects" with a drug problem You could just put them in high quality apartments and give them a stipend. The current proposal for a "projects" style homeless shelter where I am would have each unit cost $4,500 per month, with 90% of the units not having a private bathroom (and most not having a full kitchen). For that price you could easily afford a high end apartment and give the people a large s…

Great, but then you'll notice that many other people also like to have a high quality apartment and a stipend. Eventually, you have to give it to a lot of people, and those who work on low salary and pay their rent for a not-so-high-quality apartment will not be happy and many of them will also acquire a status where they deserve a high quality apartment and a stipend.

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#35

Post by danharaj »

leonroy wrote: post #6

Years ago I read about an excellent effort in Italy to reduce the homeless problems there. They examined what made folk homeless and what kept them there. A big focus was on re-employment and having a fixed postal address. Those who lost their jobs and then their homes with no fixed address were unable to obtain another job and hence fell into a spiral of chronic homelessness. One of the big takeaways from Italian po…

It also shows how bureaucracy intersects public and private spaces and how powerful it is at determining economic relationships.

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#36

Post by pkaye »

leonroy wrote: post #6

Years ago I read about an excellent effort in Italy to reduce the homeless problems there. They examined what made folk homeless and what kept them there. A big focus was on re-employment and having a fixed postal address. Those who lost their jobs and then their homes with no fixed address were unable to obtain another job and hence fell into a spiral of chronic homelessness. One of the big takeaways from Italian po…

How much does mental illness play into homelessness in Italy? Seems to be a common issues here in the US.

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#37

Post by [deleted] »

leonroy wrote: post #6

Years ago I read about an excellent effort in Italy to reduce the homeless problems there. They examined what made folk homeless and what kept them there. A big focus was on re-employment and having a fixed postal address. Those who lost their jobs and then their homes with no fixed address were unable to obtain another job and hence fell into a spiral of chronic homelessness. One of the big takeaways from Italian po…

[deleted]

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#38

Post by peterwoo »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #20

I'll weigh in from a basic income perspective... I've held for a while that a homeless person getting into housing solves one of the biggest time sinks they have. Once the time is freed up, they are more comfortable, safer and can therefore sleep better, and they can think and make a plan to get re-integrated into mainstream society. Commenters note that 'housing first' does not work in larger cities like San Francis…

Why not take the financing for this basic income and build things like housing instead?

Re: How Utah Reduced Chronic Homelessness (2015)

#39

Post by simonebrunozzi »

leonroy wrote: post #6

Years ago I read about an excellent effort in Italy to reduce the homeless problems there. They examined what made folk homeless and what kept them there. A big focus was on re-employment and having a fixed postal address. Those who lost their jobs and then their homes with no fixed address were unable to obtain another job and hence fell into a spiral of chronic homelessness. One of the big takeaways from Italian po…

I'm originally from Italy, and I now live and work in SF.

I am curious about what you are mentioning: any way for you to retrieve more info so I can look it up?

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