NY Times Opinion: We can solve homelessness with affordable housing

[PeteS in CA]

NY Times Opinion: We can solve homelessness with affordable housing

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2021/07/26/ny-times-opinion-we-can-solve-homelessness-with-affordable-housing-n404776

I’m not familiar with the author of this piece. Ned Resnikoff is the “policy manager for the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco.” Today he has an opinion piece in the NY Times which argues along the typical lines you hear from activists, i.e. homelessness is about lack of affordable housing. He mentions drug abuse and mental heath once but only to dismiss them as significant factors.
...
... Back in 2019, the LA Times did it’s own analysis of the data on homeless people in LA County. The data given to the county by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed the usual 1/3 of homeless people on the streets had drug/mental problems. But when the Times did it’s own analysis they found something very different:
...
... Back in 2019, the LA Times did it’s own analysis of the data on homeless people in LA County. The data given to the county by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed the usual 1/3 of homeless people on the streets had drug/mental problems. But when the Times did it’s own analysis they found something very different:

The Times, however, found that about 67% had either a mental illness or a substance abuse disorder. Individually, substance abuse affects 46% of those living on the streets — more than three times the rate previously reported — and mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder, affects 51% of those living on the streets, according to the analysis…

The findings lend statistical support to the public’s frequent association of mental illness, physical disabilities and substance abuse with homelessness.

Obviously, many of those the LAT spoke with are both mentally ill and chemical-dependent. Activists lie, because they believe, probably correctly, that the public will be less sympathic if it is admitted that 2/3 of the sacred homeless are mentally ill and/or chemical-dependent (evidently the LAT did not delve into how many of the remaining 33% do not want to live a more normal productive life.

[goatprairie]

I would bet that another sizable percentage enjoy  being what used to be called bums. Scroungers, beggars for whom work is a real bad four letter word.

[skeeter]

Paraphrasing uncle Miltie: if you want more of a particular behavior, subsidize it.

But leftists are incapable of recognizing common sense.

[GtHawk]

I would bet that another sizable percentage enjoy  being what used to be called bums. Scroungers, beggars for whom work is real bad four letter word.

Don't forget the ones that live on the streets because they refuse to live by societies rules and laws, they like living the way they do. As for the mentally ill thank the ACLU and democrats for the wholesale destruction of mental institutions. Yes there were the veritable snake pits that had to go but instead of turning all these people loose on the streets because 'their rights were being violated' (what about the rest of us) there should have been reforms and better control of the institutions. How much more is the cost to society, monetarily due to crime, the loss of use of parks beaches and sidewalks along with cleaning the filth than the cost of institutionalizing the truly mentally ill? As for the others, flush rinse and repeat, vagrancy laws used to work.

[berdie]

To the headline...marlarkey!

To the other posters on this thread that have already posted this...an awful lot of the homeless choose this lifestyle. Not my thing, but to each his own.

[goatprairie]

To the headline...marlarkey!

To the other posters on this thread that have already posted this...an awful lot of the homeless choose this lifestyle. Not my thing, but to each his own.

As the wife and I drive around our area, there are certain spots (usually by traffic lights) where some individuals either beg for money or have signs indicating that they will work for food.
We've never given these people money, but I'm tempted to roll down my window and tell them of the numbers of help wanted signs I've seen in many area businesses.
What do you think the reaction would be from the beggars? "Hey, thanks for telling me, I'm running right over to put my name in" or "f off you heartless bast*rd!"

[Hoodat]

In 1935, the Federal government build its first public housing project in Atlanta, GA.  After 86 years of 'affordable (i.e. "FREE") housing', homelessness is bigger than ever.

'Affordable housing' is not the answer.  The solution to reducing homelessness is to stop subsidizing homelessness.  Cut off free wifi for the homeless of Seattle and Portland, and you will see them taking their $1,500 laptops elsewhere.

[GtHawk]

As the wife and I drive around our area, there are certain spots (usually by traffic lights) where some individuals either beg for money or have signs indicating that they will work for food.
We've never given these people money, but I'm tempted to roll down my window and tell them of the numbers of help wanted signs I've seen in many area businesses.
What do you think the reaction would be from the beggars? "Hey, thanks for telling me, I'm running right over to put my name in" or "f off you heartless bast*rd!"

You can tell the ones that are real homeless, what I see almost without fail at the freeway ramps and such are people dressed better then me and wearing shoes I can't afford, men with a clean shave and recent hair cut, even the women are also well groomed. And where do these 'homeless', jobless and starving people get those markers to make their nice signs? There used to be a Hispanic guy that would panhandle from the median in the middle of the road, he was missing an arm and leg and when people weren't ponying up he would take one of the prosthetics of to gin up sympathy and when he was done if you followed him you would see him get into a nice car.

[Sighlass]

Four Letter words WORK or the five letter word DRUGs... Homelessness is being driven by drug addiction mostly from what I am seeing. Something a lot on this forum fail to see as a reason to continue the WODs.