3 ms·

This guy came to my city over the summer, and he seems like he's got his own grift in terms of telling conservative politicians what they want to hear about hom

by davidw 3y ago

This guy came to my city over the summer, and he seems like he's got his own grift in terms of telling conservative politicians what they want to hear about homelessness and getting paid for it. He mentions Obama and "Housing First", but it goes back further, to GWB, and was actually fairly successful: https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/29/opinion/frum-less-homelessness/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/29/opinion/frum-less-homelessnes... Some people clearly need more than just a roof over their heads, but those other problems become much more difficult to treat when people do not have a stable place to stay. And the statistics are very clear about the relationship between housing and homelessness: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/everything-you-think-you-know-about https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/everything-you-think-you-know-...

jonhohle 3y ago
Great, so it’s (possibly) a housing cost problem. There are now more per-capita housing units in the US than at any time in the past 20 years (and likely ever). In the past four years, the US population grew 4M, and housing units grew 5M. There is currently 0.433 housing units per capita, more than enough to house every average household in the US. Those aren’t new units in SF or NY, so why do people stay homeless in those locations rather than move to lower cost of living area of the country? How do those cities think they can get someone from having no income or resources to being able to afford $2-3K rents? If it really is primarily housing affordability, is it not reasonable to tell people they can’t afford to live in that city? I don’t live in SF, even though my previous job was there, because cost of living and quality of life would have been worse than my current situation. I completely understand that increased housing cost is a driver of acute homelessness. I personally don’t subscribe to the idea that it is responsible for chronic homelessness. I also think the link’s analysis of policy is flawed. Benefit to rent ratio is not a granular enough measure. There are certainly some benefits that contribute more/less than others, the requirements to receive benefits, etc.
- davidw 3y ago
  You're very much correct that there are a lot of details when you start getting into chronic homelessness. It's a complex issue. The link is mostly about the high level correlation, and is not trying to say "just give everyone housing and presto, problem solved". SF and NY have been really bad at providing enough housing, and part of fixing the problem is building more.

by davidw 3y ago

jonhohle 3y ago

Great, so it’s (possibly) a housing cost problem. There are now more per-capita housing units in the US than at any time in the past 20 years (and likely ever). In the past four years, the US population grew 4M, and housing units grew 5M. There is currently 0.433 housing units per capita, more than enough to house every average household in the US. Those aren’t new units in SF or NY, so why do people stay homeless in those locations rather than move to lower cost of living area of the country? How do those cities think they can get someone from having no income or resources to being able to afford $2-3K rents? If it really is primarily housing affordability, is it not reasonable to tell people they can’t afford to live in that city? I don’t live in SF, even though my previous job was there, because cost of living and quality of life would have been worse than my current situation. I completely understand that increased housing cost is a driver of acute homelessness. I personally don’t subscribe to the idea that it is responsible for chronic homelessness. I also think the link’s analysis of policy is flawed. Benefit to rent ratio is not a granular enough measure. There are certainly some benefits that contribute more/less than others, the requirements to receive benefits, etc.

davidw 3y ago
You're very much correct that there are a lot of details when you start getting into chronic homelessness. It's a complex issue. The link is mostly about the high level correlation, and is not trying to say "just give everyone housing and presto, problem solved". SF and NY have been really bad at providing enough housing, and part of fixing the problem is building more.