Pity there's no place- Toon

[Ichingcarpenter]

[SoCalDem]

1. True...but then

"someone" owns those places, and people are notoriously messy and have needs..like bathrooms & water & electricity & ways to cook food.

People who own those empty spaces are hoping to find someone who can pay them to use those spaces..not to put out their own money (which they may no longer have due to the vacancies) to house people who may destroy their property, and who cannot afford to rent them..sad but that's the reason

[baldguy]

2. "People" don't own them - corporations do.

[SoCalDem]

3. SCOTUS has determined corporations and people to be one and the same

and whether it's a corp or a single human being, the building is "owned" and rented as a way of earning income for that entity..

If municipalities were not flat-broke, they could possibly buy or rent those spaces and use them for charitable housing, but then we would have zoning issues and safety regs entering the fray..

basically, there are just not many options for poor/homeless people...none that are easily arrived at.:(

[thunder rising]

4. here's one ... molotov cocktail