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I believe you but. Hasn't crime risen more sharply in the west coast cities? If so, is it simplistic to say that homelessness leads to crime? I think the menta
by xrd 4y ago
I believe you but.
Hasn't crime risen more sharply in the west coast cities? If so, is it simplistic to say that homelessness leads to crime? I think the mental health issues are a stronger correlation: without the meth induced psychosis being added to homelessness, you wouldn't have nearly as much crime.
Sadly, I've come to the conclusion that forced incarceration is necessary for a certain small group of people on the streets. A guy I used to know in Portland owned a club in the east side, and said there was a homeless man throwing railroad ties into the windows. Then, he murdered his girlfriend and burned himself alive in his tent. Completely anecdotal but I can't forget it. If we really cared about people on the street, we should have figured out a way to get him off the street.
But, that note in the article about data driven solutions showing that incarceration is not effective makes me pause, and I'll go read that now that I've sprouted off misinformation.
- chizhik-pyzhik 4y agoI agree that mental health issues are a serious driver for homelessness. We see that 20-25% of the homeless population has serious mental health issues... not all of them, but much higher than the regular population. However, this doesn't explain why some cities have way more homelessness than others. It's not like there's way more insane people in Portland than other cities. Take a look at the third chart on this page- https://www.sightline.org/2022/03/16/homelessness-is-a-housing-problem/ https://www.sightline.org/2022/03/16/homelessness-is-a-housi...
- xrd 4y agoThis is excellent. Thanks for sharing it. The recent changes to zoning in the west coast might radically change things in regard to housing stock. I'm hopeful.