Quote:
Originally Posted by Easy
Not to single you specifically but what exactly does any of this have to do with downtown development? Are you referring to a specific project? Maybe this isn't the place for this discussion if this is a general topic regarding solving the homeless crisis.
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"What exactly does any of this (homelessness) have to do with downtown development?"
At some point (I think we are close in L.A. & S.F. & S.D.) it will have EVERYTHING to do with future downtown development. When people on a daily basis run into people sleeping on the sidewalks in front of their buildings, relieving themselves in plain view, aggressively panhandling etc., it will be a major deterrent to moving & living there. The projects will slow & then stop if DTLA and DTSF and DTSD become Calcutta-like cesspools. We are at the point where the problem MUST be tackled. Hopefully the federal government and state government can help the cities, since it is really a national problem. I agree that the issue should be spread around the region, not just DTLA. Yes Beverly Hills, you too. Shooing them away and arresting them won't work. They just go elsewhere, and will return.
Also, other cities and states need to stop dumping their homeless on California cities, especially LA, SF & SD. Hawaii was giving homeless free plane tickets to California--are they still doing that?
Not all homeless are "mentally disturbed" and "drug addicts". Many are regular people like you and me who have lost their jobs or have medical issues and just can't afford the super-high rents. I say, we need to house them. First interim housing, perhaps more clean shelters, and even tent campgrounds with security, showers & toilets. Those with vehicles should be allowed to park in a safe area with security & facilities, perhaps in industrial areas. Later, permanent housing--microunits, refurbished shipping containers etc. Housing the homeless will make DTLA much more desirable, and increase development of this wonderful area.
These are not vermin, they are HUMAN BEINGS! How many of you are one or two checks away from homelessness? Everyone should imagine themselves homeless. What would you do? Where would you go? There is no monopoly on "good" or "evil" or "substance abuse" or "criminality" among any economic class. There are multi-millionaires and billionaires who have substance abuse problems, and do bad things, just like some homeless do. The difference is the rich have money (often inherited) to buy housing. Instead of squandering trillions of dollars on endless wars, the U.S. should solve the homeless problem (for one tenth of one percent of the cost). The U.S. gave the criminal bankers hundreds of billions of dollars in the 2008 financial crisis that the banker crooks created--why not spend $10 or $20 billion to help house homeless, including VETs?
In a massive earthquake (in any of our big western cities) millions could become homeless. Nobody would question the need to provide shelter, as was done in San Francisco in 1906. The current homeless problem is largely a financial crisis, a question of the unaffordabilty of housing relative to wages for working people (and yes, substance abuse too for some). It must be treated like a "financial earthquake", much like the Great Depression & the "Hooverville" era. The problem must be solved or the DTLA building boom could wither and end. This is why this topic is relevant.
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