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>dozens of homeless people in varying levels of distress The homelessness problems in the US vs EU is a whole other topic.
by fnord123 7y ago
>dozens of homeless people in varying levels of distress
The homelessness problems in the US vs EU is a whole other topic.
- mymythisisthis 7y agoCurious, what is your quick take on it. It's partially related to this topic. Many small cities in N.America give homeless people free bus tickets to NYC or California, so they don't have to deal with them. This allows small cities no to worry about public transit, and widens the urban/rural divide.
- fnord123 7y agoI'm not an expert but there are large swathes of rough sleepers in SF, SJ, NY, Austin, LA, etc. And even though the % of population in the US who are classified as homeless in the US is less than e.g. UK, there's nothing on that scale of rough sleepers scale in comparable or larger cities like London, Paris (maybe 17de?), etc. I don't know if the definitions of homelessness plays a part in the different %s but the suffering of homelessness seems higher in the US than EU.
- closeparen 7y agoNo, it isn’t. The homelessness issues in cities drive the popularity of suburbia, suburban style planning, avoidance of walking/transit, and the need for cars/parking downtown (since few want their kids to grow up where they work, especially outside top 10 cities). Car dependence is far and away the most effective “solution” to visible homelessness, and that’s part of why people are so attached to it. Urban planning and public transportation also feed back into homelessness by prohibiting cheap housing types (like SROs) and making it nearly impossible to hold a job without owning a car in good repair (bus delays and cancellations will get you fired).