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It's far more likely that the homeless population has migrated to the San Jose area because there are so many wealthy/generous residents than having been "pushe

by H0n3sty 11y ago

It's far more likely that the homeless population has migrated to the San Jose area because there are so many wealthy/generous residents than having been "pushed" out due to rising home values and cost of living.

jgh 11y ago
I find this incredibly difficult to believe... Do you have any whatchacallit, evidence?
- H0n3sty 11y ago
  The economic forces at work are supply & demand, and a process referred to as voting with your feet. Every time someone or some society gives more to a homeless person they increase demand - in a sad twist of intentions and results they increase the negative effect they're trying to alleviate. Homeless people are also able to move more easily as they have so few possessions and a lower cost of moving. If San Jose provides relatively better conditions for homeless people than Las Vegas, then San Jose ends up with a correspondingly higher homeless population.
spike021 11y ago
I doubt that's the reason at all. I don't live in an affluent San Jose neighborhood. Most of my neighbors are working-class and probably on the lower end of the economic scale. Young families and whatnot. There are still plenty of homeless that go through our neighborhood like it's any other.
strlen 11y ago
That is only partially the case: yes, to some extent San Jose has a high homeless population for the same reason SF does (warm climate, access to transportation and social services, more lax enforcement of certain laws), but there are other causes that are unique to San Jose. For example, since San Jose is much more car friendly, there are far more homeless people living in cars and RVs: many are employed, while the unemployed have often held working/middle-class jobs in the past. Some have been unemployed homeless since the collapse of the 2000 boom, others from the 2008 economic crisis and the real estate crisis (yes, a few had even home been home owners!). San Jose was hard hit in the real estate crisis (though less so than some of California's exurbs), in that this is where people who long priced out of other areas (and most risk averse, for good reasons) bought at the very peak -- when it felt the "most safe" and the housing prices, while still high, were lower than those in other communities.

by H0n3sty 11y ago

jgh 11y ago

I find this incredibly difficult to believe... Do you have any whatchacallit, evidence?

H0n3sty 11y ago
The economic forces at work are supply & demand, and a process referred to as voting with your feet. Every time someone or some society gives more to a homeless person they increase demand - in a sad twist of intentions and results they increase the negative effect they're trying to alleviate. Homeless people are also able to move more easily as they have so few possessions and a lower cost of moving. If San Jose provides relatively better conditions for homeless people than Las Vegas, then San Jose ends up with a correspondingly higher homeless population.

spike021 11y ago

I doubt that's the reason at all. I don't live in an affluent San Jose neighborhood. Most of my neighbors are working-class and probably on the lower end of the economic scale. Young families and whatnot. There are still plenty of homeless that go through our neighborhood like it's any other.

strlen 11y ago

That is only partially the case: yes, to some extent San Jose has a high homeless population for the same reason SF does (warm climate, access to transportation and social services, more lax enforcement of certain laws), but there are other causes that are unique to San Jose. For example, since San Jose is much more car friendly, there are far more homeless people living in cars and RVs: many are employed, while the unemployed have often held working/middle-class jobs in the past. Some have been unemployed homeless since the collapse of the 2000 boom, others from the 2008 economic crisis and the real estate crisis (yes, a few had even home been home owners!). San Jose was hard hit in the real estate crisis (though less so than some of California's exurbs), in that this is where people who long priced out of other areas (and most risk averse, for good reasons) bought at the very peak -- when it felt the "most safe" and the housing prices, while still high, were lower than those in other communities.