this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2023
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I can’t speak for the entire state, but I’ve visited San Francisco many times (never lived there). It was one of the dirtiest, most disgusting cities I’ve ever visited, and I’ve visited Mumbai. I would leave conferences after speaking to people worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to be greeted by a sea of homeless people shooting up drugs, vomiting, and shitting in the streets. I’ve witnessed multiple crimes in the short trips I’ve taken, including mugging, theft, and assault. I’ve no doubt the city once held cultural cache and beauty, but it’s hard to find now. It’s hidden under a layer of crime, trash, boarded up stores, and graffiti.
Sadly my trips to Los Angeles were not much better. I am told other Californian cities are much nicer. It’s just such a shame to see what they have allowed to happen to such once beautiful cities.
Fwiw (being a nonnative Californian) we have so many homeless because nobody else will even try to care for them.
Other states seem content to just let em die, ideally after shopping them to us with a free bus ticket.
We could do that too.. But I'm glad we're trying out here. They can be a bit gross, but they don't seem to bother the locals. Some have interesting stories.
Success with this pernicious problem doesn't seem guaranteed, but it never was against what's usually a mental issue.
This was a South Park episode over 15 years ago. As someone from the east coast I never realized it was based on reality. It seemed like such a ridiculous non-solution to ship homeless people to another state.
https://piped.video/watch?v=lsrBlKpbBS8
There must be a better way than leaving them on the streets. That’s not a compassionate way to treat people. I know that addicts often resist help, but that’s a good argument for the Dutch model. When an addict appears before a judge they are given two options: prison or mandatory rehab. Unsurprisingly, Holland has much higher levels of rehab completion and very few addicts in the streets. They also spend much less per homeless person than San Francisco.
I don’t think this is about compassion. I think it’s about failed policies. What they keep doing isn’t working. It’s time to do something which is proven to work.
Oh sure, there must, and I don't agree with leaving them on the streets to fend for themselves.
Because a lot of current homeowners view their homes as investments, nobody wants to ok building any kind of shelters locally. Since coastal areas are where the money from begging is, nobody wants to leave this area either.
We've come to an impasse, but nobody is brave enough to take the next step. Once we do, how much housing do we need?
And for the record: jail/prison in the US is a horrible option that some may mistakenly take. You will come out changed, and not necessarily for the better.