Nice weather makes it a destination
by gozer (2024-02-21 12:21:02)

In reply to: What's driving the higher than average unemployment  posted by krudler

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if you're unemployable and likely to spend the bulk of your life sleeping outdoors, are you going to want to do it in LA or San Diego, or would you rather be in Minneapolis?

If I never have to take a business trip to Minnesota during
by krudler  (2024-02-21 12:24:33)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

winter again I'll be happy. I thought Chicago was cold. Beautiful but painful. I'm sure city-specific policies also have a push/pull impact on homeless migration as well.

I think there's some truth to this
by ravenium  (2024-02-21 13:37:38)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

However, it's a very complex problem with a lot of layers. Here's the way my thinking goes:

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Weather is an overstated problem - one does not see the same homeless numbers in, say, Alabama as one does in California.

Ahh, but what about housing costs, which are far lower in AL than CA?

That only impacts the people who can sustain a roof over their heads. What about the "problematic" ones (mental illness, drug use, etc)?

They are heavily encouraged to go where they will not be hassled. This may mean bussing, but it also means "that place is far more lenient and I can get away with stuff, let's go there". I don't think there's a specific "policy" that encourages this, but there's a paralysis of "we can't do x" where other states decide "we can do X, fuck them".

Thus you get A) economically homeless, due to housing and B) homeless due to antisocial behavior, rolled up into a monolith that people go round and round chatting about.

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So what attracts the antisocial contingent to the west coast? I'd say it's more of a sentiment than actual policy:

"hard drug use should be destigmatized"

"rehab is a choice and only when the person is ready, it's their right to choose when"

I think those statements and sentiments are what have caused the greatest harm, together with the "bundling" of the economically homeless into the monolith. You can't help A and B in the same way.