Homeless crackdown gains momentum in California as US Supreme Court test looms

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

March 2, 2024 4:59 PM EST


SAN DIEGO, March 2 (Reuters) - Seven months into a crackdown by the city of San Diego on homeless encampments, many of the tents that once lined downtown sidewalks are gone.

Now two California state senators - a Republican and a Democrat - have joined forces to propose a statewide version of San Diego's ordinance, which allows police to roust many homeless people even when shelter is unavailable. But advocates for homeless people said the enforcement strategy has merely chased the homeless onto riverbanks and other unseen places, as the number of shelter beds still fails to meet demand.

The debate reflects growing urgency, as polls show homelessness and affordable housing as two of the most important issues to California voters. The state has spent more than $20 billion on housing and homelessness programs since the 2018-19 fiscal year but still has more than 180,000 homeless people.

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to weigh in. The justices are scheduled to hear arguments on April 22 in a case from Oregon that may determine the legality of enforcing anti-camping laws and other regulations affecting homeless people when there is nowhere for them to go.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/homeless-crackdown-gains-momentum-california-us-supreme-court-test-looms-2024-03-02/

[TexasDem69]

1. We visited San Diego about a month ago

I was shocked at the number of homeless in the downtown area.

[SunSeeker]

3. San Diego has the most expensive rental market in the country.

The expansion of tech and medical research industries centered around UCSD made rents jump 20% in 2022. Plus corporations are buying up houses to use as rental properties and renting those out at $5k-$10k for a 3-4 bedroom house. A lot of people live in their cars, if they're lucky enough to have a car. The folks on the sidewalks have nothing. And the folks paying $3.5k for a 1 bedroom apartment don't want to have to step over them and their urine downtown anymore. It's a tough situation. The county was talking about building tent cities out in the desert. But there's nothing for them there, no social services, and the nights get much colder than near the ocean, where the ocean keeps the temperature pretty steady and well above freezing.

[Voltaire2]

2. They don't have homes.

Where are they supposed to live?

[SunSeeker]

4. There's plenty of money to build shelters, but NIMBYs don't want shelters in their neighborhoods.

A lot of the folks on the street have major mental health and/or drug problems, and shelters are scary, dangerous places. Most homeless people would rather be on the streets than in one of those shelters. It's a tough situation. The county was talking about building tent cities out in the desert. But there's nothing for them there, no social services, and the nights get much colder than near the ocean, where the ocean keeps the temperature pretty steady and well above freezing.

Places like Chula Vista, a San Diego suburb, have tiny home communities, with ac and heat, but the residents must be drug free and mentally well enough not to be a danger to themselves or other residents.

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California is looking to roll back what Reagan did as governor and reinstitute the ability to put severely mentally ill people in mental institutions without their consent. Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing a measure to build 10,000 beds in mental institutions for the severely mentally ill. https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/newsom-mental-health-18161339.php

[RSherman]

5. The poor and homeless were also rousted during the Dust Bowl/Great Depression

How did public officials respond to Hoovervilles?
City officials alternately tolerated and tried to eradicate the shack town. In May 1942, shortly after Seattle destroyed its Hooverville, the Tacoma Fire Department burned fifty of the "Hollywood" shacks. But residents rebuilt and the site remained occupied all the way through World War II.

[Mysterian]

6. The USA needs a New New Deal to provide jobs and build infrastructure, public works and housing

But republicans keep the USA in the Dark Ages.

[mackdaddy]

7. But no one is adressing the underlying problems.

Greed.

"The Rent is Too Damn High" guy was right.

The system is broken when this many people cannot make a living when there are hand full of people with so much wealth they could not spend it literally in ten thousand lifetimes.

If you can't make enough to have a place to live and feed your family, mental illness is not addressed and treated, and drug abuse and addiction gets mixed in a large part of society just starts to collapse.

All of these things have to be addressed. These people in these homeless camps are not just going away, they are just being pushed somewhere else.