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The building of cheap houses isn't the problem. Who maintains them? Who enforces the code? Who insures them? Who is liable for them? These are things that "SV"

The building of cheap houses isn't the problem. Who maintains them? Who enforces the code? Who insures them? Who is liable for them? These are things that "SV" sometimes ignores. That's why these are bigger problems.

toomuchtodo 10y ago
Google "Tiny homes homelessness". The project I'm fond of "A Tiny Home For Good" in upstate NY purchases cheap city lots (or takes land donations), has volunteers build the tiny homes, and then provides them to the homeless to get them back on their feet. The regulations aren't hard. Simply put down your JavaScript framework of the week and go out to do real work that effects change. Prepare to work long days and not get rich, but make people's lives better. But people won't, and that's SVs problem.
- Animats 10y ago
  That's in Syracuse NY, an emptying city with lots of vacant real estate. How could this work in California? Build a town of tiny houses somewhere with low-value real estate, like San Bernardino or Lodi, and ship the SF homeless there? Add-on feature: free drugs and free training. 1 in 1000 doses is lethal. Everybody is clearly told this up front. In three years, the druggies have been filtered out and the rest have useful training.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    It doesn't work in high cost of living areas without government subsidies; them the breaks of capitalism. I'm not against giving drug users a safe place to use with a roof over their head, as long as they're not a danger to others; I would like to see dedicated social, mental health, and addiction counseling services provided for those who want the help. How do we make land less valuable? That's the question. Where you live should not constrain or restrict your quality of life.
    - NoGravitas 10y ago
      You can't make land less valuable, because it's scarce, and some locations really are better than others. That said, you can make sure that the extra value of particular locations is captured by the community, rather than by speculators and rentiers generally. The standard method of doing so is the [Land Value Tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax).
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        This describes better what I'd advocate for. Thank you.
  - sthatipamala 10y ago
    Are you seriously advocating implementing social Darwinism by giving homeless people tainted drugs?

toomuchtodo 10y ago

Google "Tiny homes homelessness". The project I'm fond of "A Tiny Home For Good" in upstate NY purchases cheap city lots (or takes land donations), has volunteers build the tiny homes, and then provides them to the homeless to get them back on their feet. The regulations aren't hard. Simply put down your JavaScript framework of the week and go out to do real work that effects change. Prepare to work long days and not get rich, but make people's lives better. But people won't, and that's SVs problem.

Animats 10y ago
That's in Syracuse NY, an emptying city with lots of vacant real estate. How could this work in California? Build a town of tiny houses somewhere with low-value real estate, like San Bernardino or Lodi, and ship the SF homeless there? Add-on feature: free drugs and free training. 1 in 1000 doses is lethal. Everybody is clearly told this up front. In three years, the druggies have been filtered out and the rest have useful training.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  It doesn't work in high cost of living areas without government subsidies; them the breaks of capitalism. I'm not against giving drug users a safe place to use with a roof over their head, as long as they're not a danger to others; I would like to see dedicated social, mental health, and addiction counseling services provided for those who want the help. How do we make land less valuable? That's the question. Where you live should not constrain or restrict your quality of life.
  - NoGravitas 10y ago
    You can't make land less valuable, because it's scarce, and some locations really are better than others. That said, you can make sure that the extra value of particular locations is captured by the community, rather than by speculators and rentiers generally. The standard method of doing so is the [Land Value Tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax).
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      This describes better what I'd advocate for. Thank you.
- sthatipamala 10y ago
  Are you seriously advocating implementing social Darwinism by giving homeless people tainted drugs?