Posted on 11/06/2017 6:11:56 AM PST by Mariner
SEATTLE (AP) — Housing prices are soaring here thanks to the tech industry, but the boom comes with a consequence: A surge in homelessness marked by 400 unauthorized tent camps in parks, under bridges, on freeway medians and along busy sidewalks. The liberal city is trying to figure out what to do.
"I've got economically zero unemployment in my city, and I've got thousands of homeless people that actually are working and just can't afford housing," said Seattle City Councilman Mike O'Brien. "There's nowhere for these folks to move to."
That struggle is not Seattle's alone. A homeless crisis is rocking the entire West Coast, pushing abject poverty into the open like never before.
As the West Coast’s economy booms and more people move to the area, the number of homeless people has spiked to crisis levels. The Associated Press found that the number of homeless people is now 168,000 in California, Oregon and Washington.
Public health is at risk, several cities have declared states of emergency, and cities and counties are spending millions — in some cases billions — in a search for solutions.
San Diego now scrubs its sidewalks with bleach to counter a deadly hepatitis A outbreak. In Anaheim, 400 people sleep along a bike path in the shadow of Angel Stadium. Organizers in Portland lit incense at an outdoor food festival
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
When in fact the vast majority are mentally ill and/or addicts or one kind or another.
And the dimwits who run the local governments can't make the connection between the homeless services they offer and the number of homeless they attract.
The best thing for the homeless is strident enforcement of vagrancy laws.
Fake news. Tech industry has nothing to do with it.
Working and cannot afford housing is not the same as mentally ill.
I would suggest changing the bureaucratic rules for housing and the heavy taxes on companies which build housing might free up some extra places.
But that also might mean the yuppies have to live close to where their servants live.
I don’t believe people are working and cannot afford housing.
Won’t work in places like Orange County, CA.
There are cheaper places to live and work, but they refuse to move on to somewhere where they can afford to live.
Everything in Orange County costs an arm and a leg.
And this article is correct, they are setting up homeless camps everywhere.
By law they are making at least $1,600 per month.
IF they are working full time. And there’s no shortage of full time, minimum wage jobs anywhere on the West Coast.
.gov needs to hire teams to “experts” to study the problem..
:-)
Why should these cities struggle to “cope”?
They certainly have a large enough tax base to supply the basic services to their citizens, i.e., infrastructure maintenance and improvement, a competent police and fire department, adequate schools, and a pleasant environment in which to live and do business.
But NOOOOOO. They must attempt social experiments on a wide scale, and “engineer” the social structure of the demographics, as well as pass nonsensical “environmental” rules and restrictions which do not benefit either the public with any meaningful impact, nor the future economic growth of the community.
Eventually these “modern” cities turn into some version of Detroit or the South side of Chicago. Ghettos and derelict housing become the norm, violent crime a daily occurance.
She sent her toddler to live with the girl’s paternal grandparents in Florida. She and her new boyfriend were sleeping under tarps near Safeco Field,
.....................
Sounds like poor choices.
Then there’s state and county housing assistance, Obamacare and food stamps available to all.
It’s called mass delusion and insanity.
$1,600 a month will pay for an apartment in most of SoCal
I am near Santa Rosa, CA and was in the Nuns Fire. Our local paper ran an article that the local homeless camp swelled during the fire making it sound like they were fire victims. The fact is, homeless people from all over the state flock to disaster areas to avail themselves of the assistance offered in times of crisis, some of them going so far as to make fraudulent claims trying to cash in. Many of these people will sign up on the class action suits. This happens at every disaster.
Homelessness was originally a product of the Reagan administration, only to vanish during the tenures of Clinton and Obama. It has resurfaced now that Trump is president /s
I believe Hillary carried these states.
You can tell when there’s a Republican president: the media worries about the homelessness caused by all that economic growth.
These people are nothing but total bums. They got that name cause they sit on their bums all day. I guess when you think about it,a lot of government workers would fit that description.
In California, a lot of them are criminals ordered released by a federal judge. Many of these vagrants are dangerous.
Typical leftist, blaming the problem on big business rather than on the real culprit — longstanding far-left policies. Chickens coming home to roost.
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