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A huge, unmentioned part of the problem is that SF has settled on housing policies that makes low-end housing unavailable or unaffordable. The people who can on
by ThrustVectoring 9y ago
A huge, unmentioned part of the problem is that SF has settled on housing policies that makes low-end housing unavailable or unaffordable. The people who can only afford to live in a single-room occupancy aren't going to magically disappear when you restrict the number of SROs available. They're going to go onto the street.
Yes, it's bad that someone can only afford a 60 square foot room to live in. The solution isn't to make it illegal to let out a 60 square foot room to them, or to force market-rate housing to subsidize a few lucky winners.
- throwasehasdwi 9y agoYeah homeless people are not the same people that could afford any type of home most of the time. They're overwhelmingly people with mental and/or drug issues that prevent them from holding a job. Much more likely is that SF has many factors that make it a nice place to be homeless so these people migrate to it.
- cassieramen 9y agoI disagree. I think there are certainly people who need mental health/drug counseling but for those that seek it is has to be impossible to get on your feet. I can see a spiral where you seek help, get better, but then you can't afford a place to live. You can't find a job since you don't have an address or you do find a job but can't save fast enough to afford an apartment. So, you go back to living on the streets and you slide back down.
- ameister14 9y agoDo you actually see this spiral personally or do you envision it?
- xenadu02 9y ago> They're overwhelmingly people with mental and/or drug issues that prevent them from holding a job Citation needed. Homeless people with drug problems or mental illness are the most likely to be visibly homeless, acting out, and/or harassing people so perhaps confirmation bias makes you believe they represent the majority? In reality a minority of homeless people (~35%) have drug, alcohol, or metal problems. The majority of homeless people are depressed and ashamed of being homeless and trying desperately to get off the streets. They lose their job or get evicted and don't have any family they can turn to, causing a downward spiral. Even if you have the money to rent an apartment you're fighting people who can pre-pay a year's worth of rent (thanks to large signing bonuses). I don't know the breakdown but it is undeniable that some portion of the homeless in the Bay Area are homeless as a direct result of housing being so unaffordable. >Much more likely is that SF has many factors that make it a nice place to be homeless so these people migrate to it. That's wrong; 70%+ were residents of SF when they became homeless. Only 10% are from outside California and most of them said they came here on promise of a job, to find family, etc.
- mahyarm 9y agoI've heard some statistic that the non mentally ill homeless tend to get back on their feet in about a year on average in SF. The mentally ill chronic homeless that everyone can see need mental health services.
- rsj_hn 9y ago> In reality a minority of homeless people (~35%) have drug, alcohol, or metal problems. Citation needed. In reality, when people are complaining about homelessness, it's the chronic homeless, not temporarily homeless. 1/3 have drug problems and 2/3 have mental or physical disabilities. Those 1/3 and 2/3 pools don't perfectly overlap, so the amount of people who have neither drug nor disabilities is very small. https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-housing https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-housing
- bradleyjg 9y agoInexpensive housing opens up options, for both the public and private sector, that don't exist where all the housing is eye wateringly expensive.
- pizza 9y agoIt's not unreasonable to say that people get labeled as having mental issues because of not having a job, which causes a feedback loop, etc.
- dsl 9y agoThe policies that would solve the supply/demand problem are things people don't want. The cities aren't priding themselves on unaffordable housing, it's the NIMBYs that are the problem. A 10 story building blocking MY view? No way! You want to add 1,500 more cars to the street in front of my house? But my children play in the front yard! We can't tax or deny foreign ownership of property! That unfairly targets immigrant entrepreneurs! (I'm not saying these arguments aren't valid in some peoples minds, but they are the root of the problem)
- abakker 9y agoDon't forget that these are enforced by continual lawsuits. Neighbors sue each other for violating HOA regulations in my neighborhood. Don't even try to change the roofline on your crappy-looking 50s stucco house. If what everyone actually fights for is a conservation approach to the legacy housing market, is it really any surprise that we get a conservation approach to it? The sad thing is that the city otherwise has good policies, but housing is a morass of entrenched self interest.
- pmoriarty 9y ago"A 10 story building blocking MY view? No way!" There are quite a few skyscrapers in SF, actually. A new huge one was built for Salesforce recently. Building affordable housing isn't a priority, though, apparently.