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>which is the direct result of the housing crisis The homeless crisis is better described as a mental health and substance abuse and addiction crisis.

0_____0 3y ago
Homelessness tracks with cost of housing much more strongly than with mental health and substance abuse issues (see Colburn & Aldern's research here)
bugglebeetle 3y ago
…is what you say if you’re a real estate speculator trying to distract from root causes. Housing affordability and homelessness are directly correlated: > A large body of academic research has consistently found that homelessness in an area is driven by housing costs, whether expressed in terms of rents, rent-to-income ratios, price-to-income ratios, or home prices. Further, changes in rents precipitate changes in rates of homelessness: homelessness increases when rents rise by amounts that low-income households cannot afford. Similarly, interventions to address housing costs by providing housing directly or through subsidies have been effective in reducing homelessness. That makes sense if housing costs are the main driver of homelessness, but not if other reasons are to blame. Studies show that other factors have a much smaller impact on homelessness. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/08/22/how-housing-costs-drive-levels-of-homelessness https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/...
- TheBlight 3y ago
  Housing is expensive in desirable places. These areas are also traditionally quite affluent and liberal -- because you need to be relatively rich to live there. As a result, they tend to be much more accommodating to the homeless and addiction. That doesn't mean housing prices in LA/SF/Miami/NYC are the reason homeless people gravitate there but it does explain a correlation.
  - bugglebeetle 3y ago
    These are just unsupported assertions unless you can disprove the wide body of research I linked to that demonstrates rates of homelessness and housing affordability are strongly correlated. Many “red” cities and states have higher rates of drug abuse, mental illness, and crime, but less homelessness. Why? Because housing is affordable in those places so people do drugs and have mental illness while sheltered. It’s honestly not that complicated. It seems like you’re trying to obfuscate these documented realities to suit your own narrative.
Isthatablackgsd 3y ago
> The homeless crisis is better described as a mental health and substance abuse and addiction crisis. It is not always like that. I met people who are homeless and living in the car, they don't have mental health, substance or addiction problem. They are homeless because they couldn't afford the housing cost (including apartments). The homeless crisis is a direct result of the housing rising costs. Los Angeles and San Diego in Southern California have increasing homeless population due to housing cost. I remember 12 years ago, LA downtown have a smaller homeless popultion and they are usually out of the way. I visited my friend this year who lives in LA and homeless people are in every block of downtown which is barely a thing 12 years ago. This is the result of the housing cost crisis. You might be wondering why the homeless couldn't move to somewhere else? The thing is they can't because metropolis cities have a better social services they can provide for homeless populations and larger access to facilities within a block than a suburban or rural cities. Majority of them don't have access to transportation that they can afford. 30 years ago, the homeless are a result of mental health, substance abuse and addiction crisis. Now, that changes because of other factors such as rising housing costs which is a bigger factor.
hnav 3y ago
It's both. The homeless that are most visible in large cities definitely have some of the above going on, but a good chunk of the population is living in a car just because they got priced out.
epistasis 3y ago
Absolutely not. Areas with higher levels of addiction or mental health issues do not have out homelessness problems. There may be a small causal arrow where homelessness causes some addiction or mental health issues, or a very small arrow where addiction or mental health causes some to be homeless, but the bulk of the problem is high housing costs.

0_____0 3y ago

Homelessness tracks with cost of housing much more strongly than with mental health and substance abuse issues (see Colburn & Aldern's research here)

bugglebeetle 3y ago

…is what you say if you’re a real estate speculator trying to distract from root causes. Housing affordability and homelessness are directly correlated: > A large body of academic research has consistently found that homelessness in an area is driven by housing costs, whether expressed in terms of rents, rent-to-income ratios, price-to-income ratios, or home prices. Further, changes in rents precipitate changes in rates of homelessness: homelessness increases when rents rise by amounts that low-income households cannot afford. Similarly, interventions to address housing costs by providing housing directly or through subsidies have been effective in reducing homelessness. That makes sense if housing costs are the main driver of homelessness, but not if other reasons are to blame. Studies show that other factors have a much smaller impact on homelessness. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/08/22/how-housing-costs-drive-levels-of-homelessness https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/...

TheBlight 3y ago
Housing is expensive in desirable places. These areas are also traditionally quite affluent and liberal -- because you need to be relatively rich to live there. As a result, they tend to be much more accommodating to the homeless and addiction. That doesn't mean housing prices in LA/SF/Miami/NYC are the reason homeless people gravitate there but it does explain a correlation.
- bugglebeetle 3y ago
  These are just unsupported assertions unless you can disprove the wide body of research I linked to that demonstrates rates of homelessness and housing affordability are strongly correlated. Many “red” cities and states have higher rates of drug abuse, mental illness, and crime, but less homelessness. Why? Because housing is affordable in those places so people do drugs and have mental illness while sheltered. It’s honestly not that complicated. It seems like you’re trying to obfuscate these documented realities to suit your own narrative.

Isthatablackgsd 3y ago

> The homeless crisis is better described as a mental health and substance abuse and addiction crisis. It is not always like that. I met people who are homeless and living in the car, they don't have mental health, substance or addiction problem. They are homeless because they couldn't afford the housing cost (including apartments). The homeless crisis is a direct result of the housing rising costs. Los Angeles and San Diego in Southern California have increasing homeless population due to housing cost. I remember 12 years ago, LA downtown have a smaller homeless popultion and they are usually out of the way. I visited my friend this year who lives in LA and homeless people are in every block of downtown which is barely a thing 12 years ago. This is the result of the housing cost crisis. You might be wondering why the homeless couldn't move to somewhere else? The thing is they can't because metropolis cities have a better social services they can provide for homeless populations and larger access to facilities within a block than a suburban or rural cities. Majority of them don't have access to transportation that they can afford. 30 years ago, the homeless are a result of mental health, substance abuse and addiction crisis. Now, that changes because of other factors such as rising housing costs which is a bigger factor.

hnav 3y ago

It's both. The homeless that are most visible in large cities definitely have some of the above going on, but a good chunk of the population is living in a car just because they got priced out.

epistasis 3y ago

Absolutely not. Areas with higher levels of addiction or mental health issues do not have out homelessness problems. There may be a small causal arrow where homelessness causes some addiction or mental health issues, or a very small arrow where addiction or mental health causes some to be homeless, but the bulk of the problem is high housing costs.