26 ms·

a few weeks ago, i came out of a neighborhood cafe to find my bike gone. on a hunch, i walked over to a nearby homeless encampment and saw my bike sitting there

a few weeks ago, i came out of a neighborhood cafe to find my bike gone. on a hunch, i walked over to a nearby homeless encampment and saw my bike sitting there. i walked up to it, grabbed it, said "that's my bike", cursed the dudes out, and rode off. it felt a little crazy at the time, but it worked. the thief(s) didn't seem too fazed by it.

aaaaaaaaaaab 4y ago
>nearby homeless encampment I’m afraid to ask, but which country was this?
- nkrisc 4y ago
  As an American, it sounds normal for the US.
  - BobbyJo 4y ago
    Sounds normal for progressive metropolitan areas in the US. Not actually that common in the US as a whole.
    - nkrisc 4y ago
      Correct, because much of the US is sparsely populated, and homeless folks will aggregate where public services are available and accessible. You won’t find a homeless encampment in the middle of Nebraska where there’s nothing around but ranches. It’s not “progressiveness” that attracts homeless encampments, it’s density. Where there are people, there are resources. It’s got nothing to do with politics.
      - BobbyJo 4y ago
        The politics provide the resources though. Compare Portland, Seattle, NY, SF, or LA to any city in Texas or Florida. Even correcting for population, its a fairly significant difference.
        nkrisc 4y ago
        Non-political resources like a density of restaurants with food available, density of people who will provide help, charities, food banks, community centers, etc. If you look at each state’s share of the total number of people in the US experiencing homelessness, is unsurprising that the states with most are also home to the latest cities. Texas is low per capita, at a state level, but when you look at rates within cities then Texas and Florida and Arizona cities start to pop up. It’s not like conservative local governments have “solved” homelessness. As long as there is homelessness, dense urban areas will always have the largest share of people experiencing homelessness because there are simply more resources, in the general sense, there. Where there are people, there are resources. Let’s not forget climate as well. California, and the West coast, have a pretty favorable climate in general.
- clairity 4y ago
  los angeles. i believe we have the highest homeless population in the country with the second largest gdp (over $1T for the greater metro area). our mayor and city council build 16 homeless housing units in a year and slap each other on the back for jobs well done all around.

aaaaaaaaaaab 4y ago

>nearby homeless encampment I’m afraid to ask, but which country was this?

nkrisc 4y ago
As an American, it sounds normal for the US.
- BobbyJo 4y ago
  Sounds normal for progressive metropolitan areas in the US. Not actually that common in the US as a whole.
  - nkrisc 4y ago
    Correct, because much of the US is sparsely populated, and homeless folks will aggregate where public services are available and accessible. You won’t find a homeless encampment in the middle of Nebraska where there’s nothing around but ranches. It’s not “progressiveness” that attracts homeless encampments, it’s density. Where there are people, there are resources. It’s got nothing to do with politics.
    - BobbyJo 4y ago
      The politics provide the resources though. Compare Portland, Seattle, NY, SF, or LA to any city in Texas or Florida. Even correcting for population, its a fairly significant difference.
      - nkrisc 4y ago
        Non-political resources like a density of restaurants with food available, density of people who will provide help, charities, food banks, community centers, etc. If you look at each state’s share of the total number of people in the US experiencing homelessness, is unsurprising that the states with most are also home to the latest cities. Texas is low per capita, at a state level, but when you look at rates within cities then Texas and Florida and Arizona cities start to pop up. It’s not like conservative local governments have “solved” homelessness. As long as there is homelessness, dense urban areas will always have the largest share of people experiencing homelessness because there are simply more resources, in the general sense, there. Where there are people, there are resources. Let’s not forget climate as well. California, and the West coast, have a pretty favorable climate in general.
clairity 4y ago
los angeles. i believe we have the highest homeless population in the country with the second largest gdp (over $1T for the greater metro area). our mayor and city council build 16 homeless housing units in a year and slap each other on the back for jobs well done all around.