Quote:
Originally Posted by Klippenstein
I really don't want to get sucked too deep in a conversation about this. I maintain that there are ways to responsibly address the problem. But acting like this is something new or it's getting worse and worse and we're going to drowned in homeless people if we don't kick them out on the street or lock them up in jail is just farcical. If you look at the point in time count of homeless people in the city there's no indication that the numbers are going up. In fact, last year the number of people on the street was comparable to 2013, 2016 and 2019 which had the lowest numbers in the past decade. The count hasn't been released this year yet, but there's no indication there's some spike or steady increase. There's simply seasonal shifts. When the weather gets cold, the homeless shelters start to fill up and people seek places to sleep that are inside. It's going to happen every year to some extent. The city can and should be more responsive to address the problem proactively, but to some extent it's not predictable and just requires the city to respond when people start overstaying their welcome, causing trouble and taking up too much space.
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Everything in this post is completely irrelevant to the topic at hand.
Nobody is arguing homeless trends in the city. Nobody is arguing that homeless should be locked up. Nobody is arguing that homeless isn't a complex issue that will require a complex solution to address it.
The key issue is:
1 - Up until recently, homeless people weren't camping out in the baggage collection area at O'Hare. We aren't acting like it's something new - It is something new.
2 - It's unacceptable to allow drugged out homeless to camp out all over the place. It's horrible for the city's image, it garners very very bad press, and it's a complete hazard to passengers.
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