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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 5:57 AM
CaliNative CaliNative is offline
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How Bad is the Homeless Problem in Your City & Is Anything Being Done to Solve It?

I live in Southern California where the problem of homelessness is totally out of control. L.A. & San Diego have some of the largest homeless populations in the nation. It seems to get worse by the day, and nothing is being done to help end it. The least thing cities could do is provide safe places where homeless can camp or park their cars (some have cars), with restrooms and showers, and security.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 11:13 AM
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I live in Southern California where the problem of homelessness is totally out of control. L.A. & San Diego have some of the largest homeless populations in the nation. It seems to get worse by the day, and nothing is being done to help end it. The least thing cities could do is provide safe places where homeless can camp or park their cars (some have cars), with restrooms and showers, and security.
You need to provoke a climate change type situation for SoCal to get colder weather. There are lots of homeless people in Montreal but I'll guarantee you one thing: in January, when it's minus 20; they all find some kind of shelter, it's a life or death thing here. Still, a ton of panhandlers strung out on tarps over icy sidewalks and slush in the wintertime...with their dogs...
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  #3  
Old Posted May 21, 2017, 2:18 PM
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portland, oregon.

its bad. actually, it use to be manageable until all of the west coast mayors got together and came up with their hobo marketing campaign. lets call it a housing emergency!! oh boy. well its two things happening, there is indeed an affordability problem but concurrently, there is also a massive street addict problem. in portland, our dumbass former mayor went along with the campaign, and also decriminalized public camping.......bad idea......that move opened the flood gates for every neer do well to show up, get high and throw their sh!t all around. so now we have people camping in tents, camping in garbage, camping on boats, camping in trees (some dude made a treehouse) campin in rvs..... so from a policy standpoint, wheels are in motion to provide more affordable units, for people who actually have jobs, jack sh!t is being done to stem our urban hoarder problem. im very nice in person but i think we need to consider "extremely large stick" diplomacy at this point. from my very unscientific point in time study, i will estimate our street population in the inner city is mostly 25 years old or younger, lives in a tent, wears black anarchist clothes and has a campsite surrounded in garbage. its like that scene in children of men where they ambush the car in the gully and set in on fire! feral humans!! normal people dont sleep surounded by trash, not even "historical" hobos. these people (nancy reagan voice) are on drugs!! so i dunno. i moving out of downtown in two months. i gave it a good go, 20 years! but im tired of all the psychos and other crap so im off to sell my soul to the burbs, well to sellwood. hobos dont migrate that far south.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 2:29 PM
Leo the Dog Leo the Dog is offline
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It's bad. It's up year over year, every year. According to this, there are 9,116 homeless people in SD County. Much of the homelessness is concentrated in pockets. And here's the breakdown:

Quote:
Men: 69 percent
Women: 29 percent
Transgender: 2 percent
Veterans: 8 percent
Chronically homeless individuals: 31 percent
Self-reported mental health issue: 39 percent
Self-reported substance abuse issue: 20 percent
10News

59% self report mental health and/or drug abuse. I'm sure this figure is much higher. There are a lot of young people on the streets.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 2:31 PM
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Like any big American city, chicago has its fair share of homeless people, but the situation here is nothing at all like what I've seen in the major west coast cities.

The fact that people can literally freeze to death here in winter is a natural deterrent. Chicago is not an easy town to be homeless in.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 2:47 PM
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^^^^yes, the west coast is a mish mash of addicts traveling up and down the coast. we dont have transients that move about. we have squatters that set up camp! its like occupy but on drugs and without the political motivation. these are not people priced out of their homes or experiencing fall out from the recession. that was a decade ago! they may have been kicked out of their parents' homes though. id say were experiencing m.e.m.d.a..! mental emergency of out of work millenial drug addicts, not a housing emergency...people are getting high on fentanyl and losing their minds. the streets of porltand have become their last stop in life, and they appear to only be 20 years old. its like a sci fi movie. its so fucked up. i rode my bike past one cluster of tents. some hipster junkie in a pink bikini was helping her bandana over the face clad, anarchist boyfriend strip a bicycle of its parts right out on the sidewalk. they caught two junkies with a cache of stolen rifles in my neighborhood last summer and i personally caught two guys casing my townhouse. i saw them later that week on the news. they had broken into some guys house in nw portland, one was naked and kissing a man in bed. he had a knife and the homeowner shot at him. shit like this is happening all over the place. random people getting stabbed by random strangers, all sorts of wackadoo crime. so guy from a halfway house set a random stranger on FIRE three weeks ago at a dennys. cuckoo town!!! this time 5 years ago even in the middle of the recession, city streets downtown would be flush with tourists. nw 23rd was like a ghost town yesterday. the retail environment downtown sucks because homeless squatters have driven away visitors. the only bright spot is the pearl because cops probably patrol that like crazy during the day. the lents neighborhood is experiencing something quite, unique. hobos in RVs and mega squatter camps. they cleared one out last summer that had 500 tents. five hundred!! this in only may and shit is ramping. up. post this thread in august and ill have som verrry colorful stories.....
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 5:04 PM
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Toronto has a bad homeless problem due to a couple of reasons -- it's the biggest city in the country, and (with the exception of Vancouver which has a terrible homeless problem) it also has the mildest winters among the big (1000,000 +) Canadian cities.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 5:12 PM
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considering there were more than 50,000 drug overdose deaths last year, id say were also having an opioid epidemic. thats twice the amount of gun death....anyone involved in the rehab profession? care to shed some light on state of current affairs? i use to be open to drug legalization, but definitely not for opiates.....
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  #9  
Old Posted May 21, 2017, 5:51 PM
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Toronto has a bad homeless problem due to a couple of reasons -- it's the biggest city in the country, and (with the exception of Vancouver which has a terrible homeless problem) it also has the mildest winters among the big (1000,000 +) Canadian cities.
Vancouvers homeless problem is nothing, I mean nothing, compared to what we have in LA, SD and SF. Unfortunately out here, we'd had a few propositions over the last 3 years that decriminalized a lot of misdemeanors, released a ton of the low level prisoners and a massive mental health and drug issue where these people think is fine to live in tents and filth and have no desire to get off the streets.. Add in lawsuits by the aclu and other bullshit homeless organizations any time anyone tries to do anything and at have this disaster.

Over the last 6 months, 2 multi billion dollar propositions were passed to build housing and provide services in LA County and city. We'll see what comes of it
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 6:00 PM
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outreach is no longer the answer on the west coast because resources are slim and being abused. portland proper has run out of charity. it got so bad, lents homeowners had a sit in on the mayors front lawn last year and protested in front of his house over the camp conditions taking over their neighborhood. you know its bad when white ladies in tie dye are protesting your "charitable" policies. out of town, RURAL and suburban charity group come into downtown portland to have food drives. they are part of the problem. is like opening a giant bag of cat food at the shelter expecting there to be no fall out. i dont know what the solution is but we shouldn't have to be responsible for every out of work addict and transient that stumbles over the county line. we're not enforcing our own rules and now we must lie in our itchy, glass strewn bed. if you are a portland homeowner, renter or business owner, YOUR rights should come first. cities are a business and we are being over run by freeloading customers. sorry im done being a humanist........i love this city but this situation sucks!!!!!
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  #11  
Old Posted May 21, 2017, 6:22 PM
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Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan View Post
Vancouvers homeless problem is nothing, I mean nothing, compared to what we have in LA, SD and SF. Unfortunately out here, we'd had a few propositions over the last 3 years that decriminalized a lot of misdemeanors, released a ton of the low level prisoners and a massive mental health and drug issue where these people think is fine to live in tents and filth and have no desire to get off the streets.. Add in lawsuits by the aclu and other bullshit homeless organizations any time anyone tries to do anything and at have this disaster.

Over the last 6 months, 2 multi billion dollar propositions were passed to build housing and provide services in LA County and city. We'll see what comes of it
So the ACLU is "bullshit" now? I'm sure all the people who have had their civil rights defended by them would agree with you

Also, the homeless situation is fueled by many things. The lack of mental health care, drugs, the housing crisis, overwhelming debt, etc. I know a lot of people like to pretend that every homeless person is a lazy moocher that doesn't want to change and is also a crazy person/addict/criminal...and that is true for many. But many others are just like you and me, except they got evicted or went bankrupt from medical bills or something, and can't find a new place to stay.

Believe me, most homeless people do have a desire to get of the streets. But if it were that easy for them to do it, we wouldn't have so many homeless people, now would we?
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 7:08 PM
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So the ACLU is "bullshit" now? I'm sure all the people who have had their civil rights defended by them would agree with you

Also, the homeless situation is fueled by many things. The lack of mental health care, drugs, the housing crisis, overwhelming debt, etc. I know a lot of people like to pretend that every homeless person is a lazy moocher that doesn't want to change and is also a crazy person/addict/criminal...and that is true for many. But many others are just like you and me, except they got evicted or went bankrupt from medical bills or something, and can't find a new place to stay.

Believe me, most homeless people do have a desire to get of the streets. But if it were that easy for them to do it, we wouldn't have so many homeless people, now would we?
Mostly, I disagree. There unquestionably are, over time, substantial numbers of people ("like you and me") made homeless by circumstance but studies have repeatedly shown such people fairly quickly (within weeks, a month or two) find homes or move somewhere they can: https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/180411/report.pdf . Very few of the long-term homeless are wthout some other disabling issue such as the ones you mentioned (drugdependence, alcoholism, illness (mental mostly)). One category you didn't mention that is slightly unique are runaway or abandoned (sometimes orphaned) youth, too young and/or naive to successfully make an independent life and often taken advantage of.

But the point here is that, aside from the quite young, most of the homeless one encounters on the street have severe mental health issues and/or sustance issues; not simply money issues or lack of a "home". That means simply offering them money or even a place to live is a wholly inadequate solution. So is offering them treatment for their problem in most cases. The irony in San Francisco is that we are one of the few cities that has a strong network of community health centers and clinics where these people can get treatment. The city even funds walk-in substance treatment in many cases*, holds regular "homeless fairs" where they can get information about what's available, and has vans patrolling the areas where one finds concentrations of homeless to offer them help. But the aggressive homeless people one increasingly encounters on our streets these days do not want and will not accept such "help" too often. By that I do not mean they won't take a handout with no strings attached, but they will not (or cannot) accept even reasonable and appropriate stings/rules/limits--even such a simple thing as showing up (using a free Muni voucher) to a mental health clinic periodically to get their medications.

I think if we ever hope to have safe streets (I have been assaulted by the "homeless" and I have friends who've been mugged by them) free of impromptu camp sites and human feces, we probably need to return to involuntary mental hospitalization for the worst of the worst.

*For over a decade I worked in such a place providing walk-in detox and other treatment for opiate and other addiction
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 7:15 PM
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The homeless in Portland are starting to stab random people. An innocent man died last week.

It's bad.
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  #14  
Old Posted May 21, 2017, 7:20 PM
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The homeless in Portland are starting to stab random people. An innocent man died last week.

It's bad.
In San Francisco, two friends have told me in the last day or 2 that they or another close friend were recently "mugged".

About 2 weeks ago I had a homeless person "go off" on me for no apparent reason (we were sitting at nearby tables in a fast food place, I drinking a soda and reading the newspaper, he mumbling incoherently to himself). He started screaming at me so I moved to the back of the store where the employees took orders and he threw my soda bottle at me. The employees (belatedly) started yelling at him to leave which he finally did.

What bothers me the most is it could have been worse. There have been stabbings here too.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 7:57 PM
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So the ACLU is "bullshit" now? I'm sure all the people who have had their civil rights defended by them would agree with you

Also, the homeless situation is fueled by many things. The lack of mental health care, drugs, the housing crisis, overwhelming debt, etc. I know a lot of people like to pretend that every homeless person is a lazy moocher that doesn't want to change and is also a crazy person/addict/criminal...and that is true for many. But many others are just like you and me, except they got evicted or went bankrupt from medical bills or something, and can't find a new place to stay.

Believe me, most homeless people do have a desire to get of the streets. But if it were that easy for them to do it, we wouldn't have so many homeless people, now would we?
I should have been more clear ..the aclu, as it pertains to the lawsuits against LA city and LAPD in regards to homeless issues, has acted very irresponsibly and is a major reason why nothing can be done. The homeless in LA have many many more rights than normal citizens.. They can literally do no wrong.. Drugs in the open? Sure... Pitch a tent anywhere you want? No problem.. Harass people on the daily? Be my guest. Shit, piss and jerk off any time, any where? Of course... And on and on and on.. Let's not pretend these are down on their luck folks. A majority of the homeless in downtown LA and urban LA are lunatics and /or criminals, and almost all are either drunks or drug addicts. After 8 years of living in dtla and watching this shit get worse and interacting with these "people", I'm out of compassion and sympathy for any of them
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 8:00 PM
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In San Francisco, two friends have told me in the last day or 2 that they or another close friend were recently "mugged".

About 2 weeks ago I had a homeless person "go off" on me for no apparent reason (we were sitting at nearby tables in a fast food place, I drinking a soda and reading the newspaper, he mumbling incoherently to himself). He started screaming at me so I moved to the back of the store where the employees took orders and he threw my soda bottle at me. The employees (belatedly) started yelling at him to leave which he finally did.

What bothers me the most is it could have been worse. There have been stabbings here too.
Same story in Los Angeles as well.. They are getting worse. The only solution is revamping 5150 laws. They need to be forcefully removed from the streets immediately, and longer than 24 hours..Needs to be a min of 60 days to fully evaluate and start treatment. Enough is enough
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 8:12 PM
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The situation in Edmonton isn't that bad compared to BC or California, which seem to be their respective country's dumping grounds for homeless. There was a case a few years ago with Saskatchewan (may have been a municipality, not the province) paying for one-way Greyhound tickets to Vancouver for homeless. I also never found it to be too bad in Toronto, like a previous poster mentioned.

Anyways, back to Edmonton, there has been strong, active campaigning to "end" homelessness. There have been public advertising campaigning telling people to not give spare change to panhandlers, so that they are redirected to the shelters and support centres for food and such. It seems to have helped. I remember, circa 2008, you couldn't go more than a block downtown without being panhandled at least once. Now? There are panhandlers, but I may walk 10-15 blocks before being asked for change.

On top of that, the City is implementing a "housing first" strategy, which I believe is similar to Nordic countries. The central premise of it is that before you can tackle any of the mental, substance, financial, etc issues that a homeless person may face, they need a home to live in, with their basic needs covered. From there, they can more easily begin turning themselves around (sometimes merely having a shelter is all it takes). So, the City is slowly building housing for the homeless, but it's far from complete. The smaller city of Medicine Hat, in Southern Alberta, has apparently fully eliminated homelessness through housing first.

I was sort of amazed by Quebec City. My entire stay there, I think I saw 1 homeless person. Not bad for a major city.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 8:45 PM
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Portland's homeless crisis is actually a regional disaster that has spread down the major highways elsewhere in the state. Police along the Oregon coast had to shoot a man last year who had wandered into traffic along a major highway and was threatening a schoolbus full of kids with a hammer. It turned out that he was a deranged homeless man from Portland who had been previously arrested by Portland police numerous times, but simply released "back into the wild" despite his extreme mental and behavioral deficiencies.

That's not "compassion;" it's actually a form of sadism. And Portland's homeless have become much more aggressive and hostile due to the lack of enforcement against them. Not only the stabbings, but casual day-to-day harassment of (especially) younger women, which typically never even results in an arrest, let alone prosecution or treatment.

Normal people seem to be responding by carrying weapons themselves. Concealed-carry permits are way up in Multnomah County (where most of Portland is located) over the past 18 months, and there have already been a few incidents of aggressive homeless being shot by private citizens in incidents later ruled to have been justified.

It's shameful, and is largely a function of ineffective and feckless city leadership. Many of the laws necessary to involuntarily commit the deranged and to make Portland much less appealing to traveling homeless people are in place, but simply aren't being used.

And a "housing first" model is fine if your homeless population is relatively small (like Salt Lake City). But once you're dealing with tens of thousands of people, that's not even remotely realistic, especially in an environment where housing generally is sharply appreciating in price.
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 9:37 PM
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its always been a little off around here, but these days, its fully off kilter. i was held up at knifepoint on the bus mall about a decade ago by some vagrant. i was f$cking pissed, and drunk and windmill punched the guy in the face. it could have gone completely fubar so i was lucky. i shouldn't have been tipsy that late at night either. i dont conceal carry, id move if i thought i had to do that. but i shave my head, lift, and i carry a 4 inch automatic knife. never leave without that. i work next to lloyd center too and the gangster park. i definitely have changed my routine. dont hang out in downtown proper, west side of alberta, park in parking garages, and never take max anymore or walk over there. i still dont think there are too many places i wouldnt walk for fear of my personal safety, people think im a creeper, lots of hoodies and black clothes. i dress that way on purpose but sh!ts too goofy. portland is sketchy as #$%^......
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Old Posted May 21, 2017, 10:33 PM
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see drugs....this is just from this morning!! "A shirtless 19-year-old allegedly broke into a Southeast Portland apartment but came out on the short end of an encounter with the resident who had a utility knife.

Noel Stivensson was taken to a hospital for treatment after the early Sunday morning incidents that began with the break-in followed by a foot chase, jumping into a police car before getting away, trying to break into another nearby residence and an attempt to get into the passenger side of another car before police corralled him.

The incident began around 8:20 a.m. in the 600 block of SE 148th when Stivensson tried to break into an apartment, police said. But the resident grabbed a utility knife and scared him away. The resident went outside to make sure the teen was gone, but used the knife when the suspect confronted him, police said."
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