4 ms·

Berkeley has a tent community dead in the middle of downtown on some government property. Berkeley's homeless problem is really front-and-center. The otherwise

Berkeley has a tent community dead in the middle of downtown on some government property. Berkeley's homeless problem is really front-and-center. The otherwise nice parks in the area are pretty unusable.

jachee 9y ago
I'd argue that if they're serving the poor, they're not unusable, they're being used to the greater good.
notyourday 9y ago
I'm sorry, I have zero sympathy to people from Berkeley complaining. Considering the amount of money that Berkeley citizens collectively have and the progressive positions that they hold I am baffled why they do not add an addition $X thousand per year tax to everyone who makes more than a federal poverty level there to make sure that all out of luck homeless people have a real roof over their head, warm meals and medical care. Unless of course the so called progressive population does not actually care that the middle of downtown Berkeley looks like a third world country.
- bpicolo 9y ago
  It's a mix yeah? Berkeley as a whole has a poverty rate 6% higher than the national average. .6% higher than Oakland.
  - notyourday 9y ago
    2015 fiscal berkeley operating budget was 293 million. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2015/05_May/Documents/2015-05-12_WS_Item_01_Proposed_FY_2016.aspx https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2015/05_M... 2017 homeless number is about 1000: http://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/29/berkeleys-homeless-population-nears-1000-homeless-shelter-crisis/ http://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/29/berkeleys-homeless-popula... If every one of them is provided a $3k/mo apartment, it would increase the budget by 36 million. Berkeley population is estimated at 121k http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/berkeley-ca-population/ http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/berkeley-ca-popul... 20% of berkeley population lives below powerty level. So lets say it is 100k that are left. 36M/100k is what? $360 per person? There, I just solved Berkeley homeless problem at a price of less than 5 bottles of Napa Valley Cab per person who screamed at the sky in the city of Berkeley the day Trump became President Elect.

jachee 9y ago

I'd argue that if they're serving the poor, they're not unusable, they're being used to the greater good.

notyourday 9y ago

I'm sorry, I have zero sympathy to people from Berkeley complaining. Considering the amount of money that Berkeley citizens collectively have and the progressive positions that they hold I am baffled why they do not add an addition $X thousand per year tax to everyone who makes more than a federal poverty level there to make sure that all out of luck homeless people have a real roof over their head, warm meals and medical care. Unless of course the so called progressive population does not actually care that the middle of downtown Berkeley looks like a third world country.

bpicolo 9y ago
It's a mix yeah? Berkeley as a whole has a poverty rate 6% higher than the national average. .6% higher than Oakland.
- notyourday 9y ago
  2015 fiscal berkeley operating budget was 293 million. https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2015/05_May/Documents/2015-05-12_WS_Item_01_Proposed_FY_2016.aspx https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Council/2015/05_M... 2017 homeless number is about 1000: http://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/29/berkeleys-homeless-population-nears-1000-homeless-shelter-crisis/ http://www.dailycal.org/2017/05/29/berkeleys-homeless-popula... If every one of them is provided a $3k/mo apartment, it would increase the budget by 36 million. Berkeley population is estimated at 121k http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/berkeley-ca-population/ http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/berkeley-ca-popul... 20% of berkeley population lives below powerty level. So lets say it is 100k that are left. 36M/100k is what? $360 per person? There, I just solved Berkeley homeless problem at a price of less than 5 bottles of Napa Valley Cab per person who screamed at the sky in the city of Berkeley the day Trump became President Elect.