Can't get over how incredibly clean and bum-free Dallas is

[Riverranchdrone]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

You haven't been to Austin. It has been ruined by homeless encampments and associated piles of garbage, needles, tents, etc.. Graffiti is also a huge problem there. You can live in neighborhoods with property values of 1-2M and be only blocks from the mess. The worst was about 5 years ago, but it's still bad. When I left last year, there were still problems with fires under the underpasses. As much as I don't much care for suburban life, my current home of Cypress (Houston suburb) is free of homeless, litter, and graffiti. Cleanest environment I've ever experienced in a fairly large suburb (250,000). There are some areas on the fringes that aren't great, but nowhere near what I experienced in Austin. Austin and Portland used to be incredibly nice, but no more.

Edit: No need to claim Austinites are tolerant of homelessness. They're not. They're angry and people (like me) are glad they left. Businesses and neighborhoods are constantly complaining about the problems near to them. The "leaders" are trying with various approaches, but are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and haven't been successful.

Austin in no way has a homeless problem. It has a problem with the privilege's attacking the homeless. Austin is very nice and safe. The Rich don't like Austin's approach to solving this issue which has been very successful with the tiny homes and the bought hotels. You have the red towns shipping the homeless to Austin that that is the biggest issue on why it is not fixed yet. Not to mention Abbott trying to attack Austin's plans for the homeless. The Homeless were fine in their spots under the highways. Out of site and out of mind. Then Abbott kicked them out and force them in to the parks and wooded areas. This did not fix the problem and increased a fire danger problem. Most of the homeless are nice and kind. I have helped some and taken some in over the year. Others need medical and mental help that Texas keeps defunding. But overall the homeless are rare in the city. Our parks are nice and clean and our city is one of the safest big cities in America.