4 ms·
Richest city in the richest state in the richest country in the world and we can't even provide a place for people to live. To think this through: very few hom
by racer-v 9y ago
Richest city in the richest state in the richest country in the world and we can't even provide a place for people to live.
To think this through: very few homeless people were born in San Francisco. Everyone has freedom of movement in this country. If San Francisco commits to house everyone within its municipal boundaries, we'll need to be prepared to house all the homeless from the rest of the state and the country as well.
In other words, the problem has to be solved at a national level.
- habosa 9y agohttp://sfist.com/2016/02/11/71_of_sf_homeless_once_had_homes_in.php http://sfist.com/2016/02/11/71_of_sf_homeless_once_had_homes... That's a common myth. 7/10 homeless people in SF were previously people with homes in SF.
- racer-v 9y agoActually, your link verifies my claim that most were not born in San Francisco: 29% already homeless when arriving here, plus 51% of the remaining 71% have lived here less than 10 years, means a minimum of 65% are transplanted from other areas. That's not saying we shouldn't help them, but just that this is a national problem, not one that San Francisco can solve unilaterally.
- habosa 9y agoI have lived in San Francisco for only four years. Am I not deserving of the city's full services in hard times? I agree that the federal government needs to do a lot more, but cities can solve their own problems too. These people are our neighbors. We can do better for them.
- racer-v 9y agoWhy the "city's full services" and not America's full services? Shouldn't homeless people all over the nation be housed, not just the ones who come to San Francisco?
- cheriot 9y agoWhen we support all of the people that can be verified living and working in SF prior to their homelessness then we can use your excuse for shirking our responsibilities.
- racer-v 9y agoWhy are we (collectively) only responsible to the homeless in SF? I'm proposing that we all take responsibility for homelessness in America as a whole.
- cheriot 9y agoGiving up until the Federal government solves the problem isn't good enough. Especially because nobody even knows what policies will work. It's better to experiment at the city level.
- racer-v 9y agoIt sounds like you're giving up until the city solves the problem. I've been homeless and taken in by others, and likewise my family has taken homeless folks into our own house. There is a lot we can do at a personal level, but in the last analysis the problem is systemic: it's caused by capitalism and the regime of private property, not the policies of one city.
- cheriot 9y agoI'm glad you've been so selfless. That doesn't mean the Federal government is going to do the first thing about homelessness. Nor does it mean elasticity of demand has the same slope in all markets. The city of San Francisco is in a unique position of having resources and political will to try new policies. I'll cast my vote accordingly.
- racer-v 9y agoYou remind me of someone who thinks he can fix a mouse problem in just one room of the house, without paying attention to the other, connected rooms. "I'm only worried about mice which are currently in the bedroom - thinking about the entire house is too much."
- iaabtpbtpnn 9y agoYou're completely right, but I think what they were trying to say is, of all the homeless people in the USA, very few of them were born in SF. Yet due to freedom of movement, they could all come here for the price of a Greyhound bus ticket.
- masonic 9y agoThat's self-reported poll data not verified against any objective source. I think it's natural for a subject of such a poll to respond how s/he thinks will produce a result favorable to her/him in the long run. People like a sense of belonging.