A rant on bus stops

As I understand it, these folks want privacy, storage, pets, quick commutes to loved ones, and/or drugs/alcohol.

I think it'd be easy to offer privacy and storage. Let them have locks on their doors (that staff can open). Put cameras in the hallways. I think these things could be done affordably, especially if housing was built on cheap land.

Dogs might be possible and might help some of them recover. There would need to be a system to keep violet animals and maltreatment down, and sanitation would be important. Apart from that, animals help calm the mind. That's probably cheap to do too.

You'd need to feed and clothe everyone, but it needn't be expensive.

Transportation is expensive and should be offered in a limited basis. Non-profits probably already have this cornered, and you could do it at scale even cheaper.

The substance abuse problem I haven't the slightest idea on. You ideally want to get them to stop abusing, and most taxpayers would gag at the thought of providing homeless with the drugs of their choice as an incentive to get off the streets. Not sure how you compel the addicted to leave. Forcing them to leave would be illegal in most municipalities, and it feels a little wrong unless we have quantifiable data that it helps their outcomes.

And then there's the fact that each individual will fall into a range of mental health states. Some may be permanently disabled and in need of institutional housing (which I don't think we do anymore?)

It's a tough problem. Every nation has to deal with this, but some are clearly doing better.

I'm not well educated on this topic, so maybe I have the incorrect assumptions.

They have insane expenses. There are lots investments that are recouped in the doctors office: paying for medical school, buying downtown real estate, decades of medical research, etc.

Nobody says “we have $50 million to invest, let’s build a hospital.” Although investors occasionally buy them.

I don’t think US hospitals are for profit in the sense they have shareholder demanding a return on investment.

Doctors who have the ability to make lots of cash usually break out on their own asap.

So there’s probably some profit seeking, but not a lot.

I know plenty of folks who work for non-profit hospitals, and it’s a total mess. But it it’s usually organization chaos, and not profit seeking.

But I’ve heard stories of venture capital firms buying and shutting down hospitals, but never building them.

In 2022, the U.S. homeless population was estimated to be over 577,000, according to the annual point-in-time count.

It looks extremely illogical to me that we cannot solve this problem for the 500,000 or so people in one of the richest countries. The only explanation I have is the sheer lack of political will and a sense of misplaced entitlement.

If you think there are hordes of homeless taking all over bay area, think again. There is only 171K in all of CA (out of 12 million people).

[0] Source : https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/states-with...

also, wow, weed in the same category as opium and company. wow.