I guess I'm a bleeding heart liberal

[senseandsensibility]

I'm a California resident (lifelong) who has been housing insecure many times in my life. Even in the eighties, a good job was not enough to secure housing where I live. The town I live in now does not have a one bedroom apartment for rent under $2800. When I see homeless people, I always feel "there but for the grace of God." It's easy to see why they are homeless here. IT COSTS TOO MUCH. I don't feel judgmental.

I wish there was an easy solution. There isn't. But I will never blame the homeless themselves, and I will keep trying to help them in my inadequate way.

[Coventina]

1. Agree with you 100%

I spent most of my childhood homeless, due to the high cost of housing in Seattle, even back in the 70s.

Once you become homeless, it becomes harder to recover.
People often don't realize how expensive it is to be poor.

[senseandsensibility]

2. You're right

And I can not pretend to have experienced what you have. It was more like a constant threat of losing housing hanging over every decision I made as a young adult. It was excruciating in many ways, but nothing like what you went through.

[Bear Creek]

8. By my favorite author Terry Pratchett

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

Men at Arms

[PJMcK]

3. Empathy is a key marker of a progressive

I share your perspective, senseandsensibility.

I, too, have had very difficult times in my life. Hard work, incredible good luck and some very kind and good people have given me the opportunities to advance my life.

Whenever possible, I try to offer assistance, pay it forward, as it were.

Like you, I can’t blame those in need particularly since I don’t know the details of their circumstances.

[Boomerproud]

4. With a bleeding heart comes emotional bruising.

I remember a time when "the other side" thought we were naive and wrong-headed. Now I see posts on social media and podcasts ad nauseum saying we're demonic and needing to destroy us before we destroy them. A different world.

[Elessar Zappa]

5. Me too.

I have homeless around my neighborhood and it’s very sad. I’d be pissed if the cops came in and cleared them away. I’m not a nimby in the least.

[AllaN01Bear]

6. i strictly blame the land mafia who make these huge big box houses

and people who whine about their property values when ever a homless situation is proposed.

[Lonestarblue]

7. I'm fortunate that I've never experienced homelessness or the fear of it.

But the world is so cruel to people today who become homeless for many reasons. I am ashamed that we do not do more to help people. There’s an organization in Austin called Community First that is doing good work helping the homeless. Here’s their website.

https://mlf.org/community-first/

I believe this is one great way to help people who are homeless. They are creating a community that provides support and help rather than hate and harassment. We need more communities like this.

[senseandsensibility]

13. Thanks for this

I agree we need more communities like this.

[TexasBushwhacker]

34. Wonderful organization - Mobile Loaves and Fishes

They are celebrating their 25th anniversary! They started out with 3 old vans, just going out to places where the homeless congregate in Austin and handing out meals. Now they have full service food trucks, also distribute clothes (clean, dry socks are popular) and toiletries. Their "Community First" project started several years ago, despite neighbors and their heartless NIMBY protests.

[honest.abe]

9. I used to feel this way but the problem is totally out of control in many cities.

However I agree we still have to have compassion and try to deal with this in the most humane way as possible. However, the solutions are going to be harsh.

[Elessar Zappa]

10. What are these harsh solutions?

People have to live somewhere. It’s a shame people call themselves liberals (not talking about you) and then get a “not in my neighborhood” regarding the homeless. I have a lot of homeless in my neighborhood and while there are of course problems, I would never demand that the police forcibly move them out just because I’m not comfortable.

[appalachiablue]

11. ++

[honest.abe]

16. Where I live we have few homeless.. not sure why.

Maybe nothing much to draw them here. For me personally it’s nothing to do with nimbyism. It just sickens me to see the beautiful public areas in many large cities just completely trashed.

The harshness will be removal of those who won’t go peacefully. That’s what SF is planning to do if they can get around the court order.

[LisaM]

12. We need to curtail short term rentals.

They are taking housing stock and driving up rents. To think otherwise is just to have your head in the sand. There are whole apartment buildings that are just Airbnbs and no one will do a thing about it.

There are also many properties sitting vacant, owned by foreign investors. We need to take care of that, too.

There is housing. Lots of it. We're just not making it available to our own citizens.

Please, please do not use Airbnb and VRBO.

[LoisB]

14. Thank you for being a "bleeding heart liberal". We should be proud of that label. Sometimes it

feels like the solution should be so easy, just build affordable housing, just rehab vacant houses and retrofit vacant buildings, etc. but there always seems to be a cog in the wheel - usually money or the NIMBY crowd.

[sorrybushisfromtexas]

15. You are right

Housing is becoming too expensive all over the 50 states. The one perk I have living in the most conservative congressional district is in the rural and small town areas is housing is still affordable for most. That is if they work two full time low wage jobs. We still have hundreds of homeless in my small city Wichita Falls. The Dallas Ft worth area has priced many middle class out of home ownership and those who rely on just minimum income out on the streets.

[Riverman100]

17. Better a bleeding heart

than none at all

[Sympthsical]

18. I am very annoyed with my neighbors

Because they will not allow any housing to be built anywhere near us if they can help it. There's a development planned in a field nearby, and they are freaking out, claiming that it's too close to a school. I've read comments where they think there will be child molesters with telescopes or a Lee Harvey Oswald situation.

These people are literally NIMBY insane.

What does get built is $2300/month studio apartments and up from there.

If you're working at my Safeway, Costco, fast food, or two dozen other places in my area, where are you supposed to live? We have tons of land on which to build.

They are just not having it. And these are Democrats. My area votes 66D/33R reliably almost every election. And you see the same shit in other places around the Bay Area.

One thing that's been consistent as I get older is I realize a lot of being "liberal" for these people - particularly the middle class and up - is signalling for social approval points while holding the policies and the help at arm's length. "Yes, I support this! As long as it changes my life not all."

I will always vote for affordable housing in my area. Full stop.

[yardwork]

25. Same thing is happening in a town near me.

Total freak out at allowing duplexes in the little college town near me. Rich people with multiple homes - who only live here for a few months in the fall and spring - are pooling their money to literally buy the mayor and town council elections. Some of them call themselves Democrats. I call them selfish.

[Calculating]

19. Well they shouldn't live in California

I work full time and could barely afford the rent on a cheap apartment there. It's getting to be unlivable unless you make 6 figures.

[markie]

21. it is NOT just California!!

this is a serious concern Nationwide!!!!

[marble falls]

20. We just need to do what we can.

[paulkienitz]

22. I have held down a job while living in a car. Because California.

I finally got into an apartment when my work hours went from part to full time.

[PatrickforB]

23. ...there but for the grace of God. You bet. It's time to have some real compassion

for homeless, because every time I see someone homeless in my city, I think that exact same thing.

It's so very easy to fall in this country, and America is a kick-em-while-they-are-down kind of place.

Homelessness is economic violence at its worst here. Lack of healthcare. Rotten teeth. Unsafe living conditions. Lack of sanitation. Hunger.

From Hive Law: https://www.thehivelaw.com/blog/how-many-people-starve-to-death-in-america/#:~:text=American%20Starvation%20Statistics,experience%20food%20insecurity%20every%20day.

American Starvation Statistics
13,690 people starve to death in America per year.

10.2% (13.5M) of households are food insecure in the US.

33.8M people experience food insecurity every day.

5.0M children experience food insecurity every day.

15.8% of children in the US live in households that are food insecure.

1 in 6 children may not know where their next meal is coming from.

53M people are on food programs (i.e., SNAP, WIC, NSLP, etc.).

4.2M Americans used SNAP (food stamps) benefits last year.

20% of food-insecure families are not eligible for government assistance.

2.8M low-income Americans said they’ve gone without food for at least one day in the last year.

22.5% of Black households have food insecurity.

18.5% of Latinx/Hispanic households have food insecurity.

7.9% of White households experience food insecurity.

6.5 million kids live in households that cannot consistently afford enough food.

18.2% of seniors living alone in the US are food insecure.

6M senior citizens in the US are food insecure.

1 out of 6 Americans lived in a household that was food insecure.

8.4% of the US population experienced food insecurity last year.

8M Americans are at risk of hunger due to poverty and lack of access to food.

[byronius]

24. Totally on point.

[Evolve Dammit]

26. You are right and a compassionate person. Our humanity may prevail. Maybe.

[NowISeetheLight]

27. Empathy

Empathy = Being a Human Being...

It means you've realized we are all in this together. You've abandoned the "I got mine screw everyone else" mentality.

Good for you!

[Snackshack]

28. Almost every

Single omeless person I ever met was not there by choice. Either medical or one of the routine financial collapse that happen, job loss or other catastrophic event but I have never met anyone who said they had that lifestyle as a goal.

[haele]

29. First thing, not all homeless are the same.

While the cost of housing is spinning out of reach for many, others really just are on the streets because they can no longer care of themselves, because they're on their own with nowhere to go, or because they have serious issues that need to be resolved before they can take care of themselves.

Second, there needs to be adequate shelter available for the variety of homeless instead of just rousting them from one park, highway easement, or alleyway to the next.
There needs to be more robust shelters for families (biological or otherwise), couples and pet parents.
Shelters for transients or people with mental health issues and substance abuse needs to be different than shelters for working poor or emancipated teens/aged out foster kids who are trying to work or go to school to support themselves.
You can't shelter elderly or disabled in bunk beds, if that's all that's available.
There also needs to be some way the homeless can store personal papers, medicines, valuables, tools needed to work with, etc., without worrying about these things being stolen, left behind, or trashed by police cleaning out a camp.

There is no "one size fits all". Safe camping and parking areas with on site facilities and support infrastructure are good. Renovated Hotels and converted office complexes for single workers and students are good. Tiny home family communities with onsite maintenance and visiting support groups are good. Recovery shelters for addicts and transients are good.
Truly low income and affordable housing in community settings based on ownership instead of just renting is also good.

But these solutions cost money and time, as well as a will to deal with all the issues. And unfortunately, people who aren't worried about becoming homeless any time soon (or are avoiding the possibility that it could happen to them), think that the poor aren't worth the effort. Because "they worked hard and made it, why can't the homeless".

So, the basic "fix it" the State of California is looking at is to not roust unless appropriate shelter is available. And a big tent or warehouse with bunk beds, benches, porta-potties and a bored rent-a-cop with a food truck that drops by three times a day is not f'ing appropriate shelter, not enough to force someone out of a tent or car where they can have some privacy and can keep their personal items somewhat safe.

Money or Human Dignity. IMO, It all depends on what a community is willing to give up.

Haele

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. Pay me $2800 a month and I'll personally build you a house

Of course, you'd have to be willing to live in Moscow Mitch- and Random Piles-land.

It's a real mystery why land and homes are cheaper in blood-red, rural areas.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

31. To get people to move there.

Once there they find themselves stuck there if they're blue or happy if they're red leaning.
Those states really want you if you're red leaning.

And they also want to attract business so they keep it cheap for them. Usually at the cost of the tax payer.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

32. Red states like mine are high on misery and low on every metric that counts

High on infant mortality, bottom on education, bottom on health care, and of course there is The Two-Decade Red State Murder Problem.

Summing up,

People who live in Republican-leaning states tend to have less money, worse health conditions, higher rates of gun-related deaths and lower levels of education than people living in Democratic states.

On average, people in red states have higher rates of poverty than residents of blue states.

Poverty is an indicator for life expectancies in the U.S. – the poorer someone is, the more likely to die younger.

But there are likely other issues at play in people in red states’ having lower life spans.

Research in 2020 showed that Americans in blue states tend to live longer than people in red states, primarily because of state policies on everything from seat belt laws to abortion laws. That research also identified health policies as a major factor.

People in blue states also tend to have higher rates of health insurance than people in red states.

Moreover, when looking at the rates of people who are diagnosed with cancer in each state, it is clear that people in red states are generally less healthy than people in blue ones. Red-state residents are also more likely to die from heart disease than people in blue states.

https://fortune.com/2023/05/25/american-dream-migration-south-life-expectancy-blue-red-state/

[Lady Freedom Returns]

33. The worst I've encountered is Missouri.