by Jack
Can someone give us a fairly close estimate on what it would cost to solve the huge homeless problem in Chico?
If we build 100 or 200 tiny houses and we provide all the expensive social services and we still have panhandlers, drifters, bums and drunks hanging around the parks, shopping malls, with some sleeping on the sidewalks, camping in Bidwell park and still dumping trash everywhere, did we really accomplish anything? In other words, what’s our goal, does anyone really know? And how do we throw a bubble over Chico to keep out other homeless from coming here after we’ve spent ourselves broke to help the current lot living here?
Has anyone noticed that not every place is seeing a spike in homeless like California? As our homeless population skyrockets, many other states are seeing a similar negative drop in their homeless count. Washington D.C. homeless are down almost 25% in 3 years. Almost the same for Atlanta, GA.
This sums it up: “NEW PORT RICHEY – This year, the number is dramatically lower. Preliminary figures from the 2019 count, completed last month, put the number of unsheltered people in Pasco County at 688 individuals.
It doesn’t mean 1,700 people disappeared. It means some may have taken advantage of affordable housing options (very few) or relocated elsewhere (majority) after local government crackdowns on panhandling and trespassing.”
Yeah, they are moving to California where life is easy, lucky us.
UPDATE:
Chicago projects back in the 60’s…nice eh?
Chicago projects 40 years later….
What’s left of Taylor Square
Jack,
The problem we are experiencing is not a homeless problem. That’s why all efforts to solve the problem have failed. Homelessness as a problem is easy to solve. However, homelessness is a symptom of other problems. Addressing the current problem by providing services and housing is just enabling a lifestyle that still includes the real problems. So what are the problems? Check out this exceptional documentary called “Seattle is Dying” at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpAi70WWBlw&t=2884s
Look at the cities that ARE dying; Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. These are cities that have taken the approach of providing services and housing to solve the problem only to see the problem explode.
They use to blame the economy for the problem but they can’t do that now. Watch the video and you will know what the problem is.
We need to make a decision; maybe an unpopular decision to approach this problem in a VERY different way because ALL of the things that are being done now are only making the problem worse!
MCS… agree. Homeless is mostly just a symptom of a far more complicated problem. We are not going to solve homeless problems with tiny houses. Oh we may reach a few, but on the whole we will just be putting a band aide on gangrene.
I have a feeling the tiny houses in Chico will become Chico’s version of the Chicago projects. I hope we aren’t just creating a future slum.
There’s no government housing project that I know of that has not become a slum, but apparently those behind the tiny houses in Chico don’t know that…yet. Look at what happened to Columbus ave. duplexes in Chico or 5th Ave. apartments in Oroville. When people don’t have a vested interest in something they don’t take care of it.
When the projects in Chicago were first built they were touted as the answer just like our tiny houses. They were modern, the grounds were nice. lots of green park space for the kids and they were going to be super safe with on site law enforcement. Then the people started moving in, followed by eviction after eviction. It only took a few years to turn the projects that cost millions into a king size dump. This beautiful property was trashed beyond repair. The Projects became a place where decent people didn’t dare walk after the sun went down, murders, rapes, drugs, gangs, it was unreal. Liberals sold this idea to government and it was one big flop. I know about this first hand because the Projects were in the area where I worked at night. It was, and still is a really bad neighborhood, even thought the projects have been torn down.
“If you build it, they will come . . . . .”