Sorry, I should have clarified. It’s increasing the houseless population in our specific city, not necessarily the houseless population in general.
4 Likes
The people who think government should run like a business have in mind some idealized, maximally-efficient business that exists only in their imaginations.
In the real world, we’d most likely end up with a government run like Elon Musk’s Twitter, or Donald Trump’s Trump Organization.
5 Likes
It might be that, but it’s also a typical BS statement from a person that has no experience designing anything. Anyone that thinks there is a full proof system out there, whether it be a candy making factory or a fucking economic system, has no practical experience whatsoever. There are cracks in every system and there always will be. Deal with it. Appropriately and humanely.
4 Likes
I imagine the National Guard would need to be brought in to even attempt this. I noted on this piece that quite a few people interviewed spoke of sending in the military to clean the streets. 6:34 and 7:56. Sent a shudder up my spine but both could have been prompted by the youtuber cuz that is what they do for clicks. Many here in Canada want a similar thing to happen to our unhoused population I Investigated the City of Real Life Zombies... - YouTube
2 Likes
That’s not increasing the number of homeless, it’s relocating them to where there are some sort of resources for them, insufficient as they may be.
Not exactly. It’s relocating the homeless to where they’ll be someone else’s problem. Preferably the “someone else” will be bleeding-heart liberals whom you hold in contempt. There are similarities to Ron DarthSantis solving the immigration problem by bussing migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
4 Likes
Yes, I understand that. But the reason that they are getting brought specifically there is because there is an (insufficient) program/place for them to stay. They aren’t getting moved to a random spot.
Who are you talking to here, exactly?
1 Like
Unfortunately, hatred is the only renewable power resource that Republicans believe in.
2 Likes
it’s not just ■■■■■, portland’s in the process of doing a version of this right now.
they initially were going to make it a crime to sleep away anywhere other than the camps, they’ve slightly walked that back… but it’s clear they’re still intending to use police to “encourage” it.
Wheeler’s proposal includes a vague plan to “eliminate” street camping by encouraging campers to move into one of the city’s encampments or another homeless shelter or face some type of penalty. Wheeler said he’s working with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office to create a referral system for unhoused people to avoid prosecution, but that the details have not been ironed out.
and, to make matters worse, they’re not engaging with any existing services or organizations… but bringing in a company that’s already got a questionable record:
Urban Alchemy has been running outdoor homeless encampments for the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco since 2020… However, the nonprofit is facing several lawsuits both for alleged labor violations and accusations of sexual abuse
when ■■■■■ and progressive west coast cities are on the same page 
8 Likes
Anyone who weaponizes social and health services is assuming that these services…
…are sufficiently funded,
…are effectively managed by effective staff,
…have already “solved” homelessness.
Another aspect of how people experiencing homelessness are not the cause of homelessness.
11 Likes
One consideration I’ve not seen here: respect for the agency and community already in place in these camps. These are communities. They’re habitations in many ways, and while many of these people would be glad for a ‘housing first’ policy, it still doesn’t solve for those who’d be resistant to it.
I’ve kicked around developing a guidebook or wiki for these different encampments to help share the different urban design hacks they’ve built, such as managing heat, waste, flooding, etc., to help figure out how to make camps more habitable. If they’re going to be there, we need to help make them as safe and humane as possible.
In some ways (God, I hate to say it) there’s merit to moving them, in that if you want them out of a particular region, you can provide them with a better place to move said community. However, the devil’s in the details. For any such plan to work, I see two necessities: 1.) respect for said community’s agency; they don’t need someone else take full control from them and 2.) they need to have comparable or better services based on where they are presently; most of these camps get placed due to the convergence of services.
Another consideration: so many major communities around the world started as shanty towns and favelas. If you can actually get some roots and let a community actually build, you can actually expand habitability. (Aka: We already have a community, here, so let’s get them setup with the actual services they need.)
Obligatory mention of 99% Invisible’s ‘According to Need’ documentary on homelessness. It’s a great deep dive into the systems involved that puts a really human face on all of it.
9 Likes
True, but it is a step towards a Final Solution. the unhoused will merely be the first in line for those ‘camps’, since they are essentially invisible and unwanted.
“First, they came for…” etc, etc.
3 Likes
it’s not just ■■■■■, portland’s in the process of doing a version of this right now."
It’s not just repub nuts like Trump or just Portland. Add Kelly Brough, who will hopefully lose the upcoming runoff between Denver mayoral candidates. Both are democrats in a city where dems outnumber repubs by almost 5 to 1, but support for her plan to coerce homeless people using jail or mental health holds is over 50%. Fuck that.
She’s both figuratively and literally in bed with moneyed interests who want the homeless to be hidden from sight if not erased entirely because they are bad for business.
She plans to use arrests and involuntary mental health holds on homeless people who refuse to go to her sanctioned camps after being swept by the cops. Denver banned urban camping over a decade ago, but she wants to channel Trump against our most vulnerable, using mental health holds and threats of arrest on the noncompliant. Fascist.
“I think everyone agrees we want voluntary commitment for people to go to locations that are safer to get services and support, but when someone won’t do it, I think we as a city have to be prepared to say we’re not going to leave you to fend for yourself anymore.”
While it should be obvious, we now have data showing that homeless sweeps decrease lifespan of those caught up in them. Neither finalist will end them, but one won’t be forcing people to a camp like Trump would.
Cross your fingers that the candidate who has fought against paid family leave and raising the minimum wage, but for fracking near homes is NOT our next mayor. DSA candidate Lisa Calderon got third (and my vote) in the last two elections. I hope people can look beyond party labels and elect someone who gives a shit next time instead of giving Trump ideas.
ETA formatting fix
13 Likes
… but that wouldn’t be “fair” to people who pay market rate—the best shelter available for free has to be worse than the worst most terrible completely enshittificated housing that’s being rented or sold for money, or else the whole economy collapses 
2 Likes
Yeah, pretty much this. Republicans don’t just find the unhoused unsightly, or want to avoid feeling guilt when someone on the street asks them for help. They HATE the homeless. The end goal here is mass murder, or as close to it as they think they can get away with at any particular moment.
6 Likes
People (often justifiably) remember the Soviet Union as a dismal society where most citizens lacked many of the modern comforts we took for granted in the capitalist West, but one thing they did right was effectively end homelessness. It was all but absent from the whole country for decades because even under the iron fist of the Communist regime everyone was provided with a place to live.
If conservatives really want to scare young people away from Socialist systems of government they should really get on fixing that kind of problem here.
8 Likes
These problems just can’t be solved…
The problem in cities like LA and SF is that there aren’t any vacant buildings.
The city could out-bid people who currently live there to get them to move out to make room for homeless. I guess that could work but it doesn’t sound like a good solution.
The city could forcibly relocate them, but that’s the conservative solution to the problem.
The city could put them in motels, but that’s temporary shelter, not a solution.
Or the city could build brand new construction, in the same neighborhood. This solves the problem of forcible relocation, isn’t temporary, and overall sounds great.
Except that it takes years and will cost very nearly a million dollar a unit. (I’m assuming costs are going up and city projects go a bit over budget, historically very good assumptions.)
And that creates other problems. Taxpayers who can’t dream of spending a million dollars on their own homes will be forced to spend a million dollars on a home for someone else, someone who is not much respected. It will be very hard for people to politically support such spending.
All of this is why the problem simply doesn’t get solved.
I still support Congress really running the experiment and pick a state (perhaps California or Washington) and dropping in however many billions of dollars are needed to build housing.
But as a note of caution, it’s been done before with disappointing results. Something always isn’t quite right for it to work.
1 Like
That’s not actually true.
12 Likes
when we spend more time and energy looking for reasons why they can’t be solved than we do on addressing the problem
12 Likes
You are very much correct, there are lots of vacant buildings.
One creative idea has been converting these for residential. The biggest options in these seem to be office buildings, shopping malls, and even parking structures. All could be converted. There are some big challenges but this might be a smart thing to pursue.
4 Likes
