5 ms·

I lived in an SRO in SF for 5 years. It was definitely the lowest rung on the housing ladder. I climbed out of homelessness and stayed there. For others, it was

I lived in an SRO in SF for 5 years. It was definitely the lowest rung on the housing ladder. I climbed out of homelessness and stayed there. For others, it was there last stop on the way down before losing it all. I remember one older woman who got evicted. Late at night she'd sneak into the building and walk up the stairs when the front desk clerk was distracted. She'd go to the 2nd floor, walk into a end floor bathroom, and lock the door for the night. Imagine being 70-something and having to play games just to have a chance at sleeping in a small bathroom with an often nasty toilet. Other stores include a 20-something woman I knew died of a drug overdose, my short-term house guest who was a raging alcoholic with no survival skills, the meth head who offered her services on a regular basis, the strippers who wanted my ADHD meds... So many stories.

rsync 7y ago
Thank you for sharing your personal stories - appreciated. I, also, lived in what might be described as a pseudo SRO for about nine months in 1998/99. I witnessed similar things. I'm not sure where these (SROs) should exist or how many of them we should have but it is completely reasonable and judicious to heavily regulate them and keep them out of neighborhoods where personal and familial status has reached a higher level of development.
- PopeDotNinja 7y ago
  Personally I don't have a problem with poor people living right next to rich people. I think the more we isolate ourselves from each other, the more we lack empathy for each other. Having been homeless, my personal experience is that people who haven't been homeless don't get it at all. The first night I had to think about where to put my stuff, I realized I was not prepared to deal with that.
  - lawnchair_larry 7y ago
    The problem is not poor people living next to rich people. SROs would be fine if they were simply people with very little income who take care of themselves and their community. But you know what actually goes on there.
- lawnchair_larry 7y ago
  I like how people who have likely never been exposed to SROs are downvoting the truth about them, even when it’s coming from people who have actually lived in them. Nobody wants an SRO near them. In theory, it’s just a small, affordable room, and that sounds fine. The reality is quite different.
  - Spooky23 7y ago
    The reactions to stories about housing attract a visceral reaction on HN, because it’s a real struggle. We all see the world through our own eyes, and even fairly affluent folks struggle with housing costs. SROs are problematic because they aren’t and cannot be communities. They are warehouses for the desperate, and mostly dropping off points. Residents get more isolated. Others can describe that experience better than I. I can understand the perspective that homeless people are better off with some sort of home than the street. But the reality is homelessness is complex, and a flophouse doesn’t provide the support that people need to get back on their feet. The folks who posted about their experiences are inspirational, but I don’t know if they are typical.
    - gerbilly 7y ago
      > I can understand the perspective that homeless people are better off with some sort of home than the street. But the reality is homelessness is complex, and a flophouse doesn’t provide the support that people need to get back on their feet. I suspect your argument stops at not wanting to live next to SRO's, and that the rest of it is just post hoc rationalization to an emotional reaction. Seriously it breaks down after that. Your first sentence above for example should clue you in. It's not exactly dripping with magnanimity. Homelessness is complex, but who says that you can't house the homeless and provide them support? In the US, with it's byzantine medical and legal environment, where even 'good people' can end up owing six figures unexpectedly, nearly everyone is in danger of becoming homeless. It's especially true now that our society is so fragmented, with everyone leaving behind all their social support to go make a buck elsewhere.
      - Spooky23 7y ago

rsync 7y ago

Thank you for sharing your personal stories - appreciated. I, also, lived in what might be described as a pseudo SRO for about nine months in 1998/99. I witnessed similar things. I'm not sure where these (SROs) should exist or how many of them we should have but it is completely reasonable and judicious to heavily regulate them and keep them out of neighborhoods where personal and familial status has reached a higher level of development.

PopeDotNinja 7y ago
Personally I don't have a problem with poor people living right next to rich people. I think the more we isolate ourselves from each other, the more we lack empathy for each other. Having been homeless, my personal experience is that people who haven't been homeless don't get it at all. The first night I had to think about where to put my stuff, I realized I was not prepared to deal with that.
- lawnchair_larry 7y ago
  The problem is not poor people living next to rich people. SROs would be fine if they were simply people with very little income who take care of themselves and their community. But you know what actually goes on there.
lawnchair_larry 7y ago
I like how people who have likely never been exposed to SROs are downvoting the truth about them, even when it’s coming from people who have actually lived in them. Nobody wants an SRO near them. In theory, it’s just a small, affordable room, and that sounds fine. The reality is quite different.
- Spooky23 7y ago
  The reactions to stories about housing attract a visceral reaction on HN, because it’s a real struggle. We all see the world through our own eyes, and even fairly affluent folks struggle with housing costs. SROs are problematic because they aren’t and cannot be communities. They are warehouses for the desperate, and mostly dropping off points. Residents get more isolated. Others can describe that experience better than I. I can understand the perspective that homeless people are better off with some sort of home than the street. But the reality is homelessness is complex, and a flophouse doesn’t provide the support that people need to get back on their feet. The folks who posted about their experiences are inspirational, but I don’t know if they are typical.
  - gerbilly 7y ago
    > I can understand the perspective that homeless people are better off with some sort of home than the street. But the reality is homelessness is complex, and a flophouse doesn’t provide the support that people need to get back on their feet. I suspect your argument stops at not wanting to live next to SRO's, and that the rest of it is just post hoc rationalization to an emotional reaction. Seriously it breaks down after that. Your first sentence above for example should clue you in. It's not exactly dripping with magnanimity. Homelessness is complex, but who says that you can't house the homeless and provide them support? In the US, with it's byzantine medical and legal environment, where even 'good people' can end up owing six figures unexpectedly, nearly everyone is in danger of becoming homeless. It's especially true now that our society is so fragmented, with everyone leaving behind all their social support to go make a buck elsewhere.
    - Spooky23 7y ago