"The only way to get homelessness out is to help people find housing."
May 7, 2023 7:33 AM Subscribe
'They just need a safe place to be.' How public transit became the last safety net in America (slVice)
Thanks for sharing this. I take public transit and there are many people sleeping there now - more than before the pandemic. I can't say whether they are housed or not, but I understand why the subway or train would be perceived as safer than sleeping on the street. There are cameras, security and in general a different culture on public transit regarding safety than on the street.
In general, I am perplexed (and I realize this is naive) that criminalizing not owning a home could be constitutional. Has this gone to the courts? If so, what has that looked like?
posted by Toddles at 8:05 AM on May 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
In general, I am perplexed (and I realize this is naive) that criminalizing not owning a home could be constitutional. Has this gone to the courts? If so, what has that looked like?
posted by Toddles at 8:05 AM on May 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
I am perplexed ... that criminalizing not owning a home could be constitutional. Has this gone to the courts?
I do not understand all of the details, but in my town of 58k people the "tiny home" encampment in the parking lot of the homeless shelter came out of a lawsuit about the city not providing sufficient housing. Of course that encampment is, at most, a tenth of what we need, and a woman who was part of that lawsuit was booted from the space because she was unwilling or unable to follow some of the rules of that space and the other inhabitants complained.
Which leads to the challenge of involuntary incarceration, which was how California's Lanterman–Petris–Short Act, which Reagan signed in 1967 and which is blamed for a lot of homelessness issues, had broad bipartisan support at the time. Involuntary incarceration has a long history of being abused by religious families unhappy with the life choices being expressed by their teenagers and twenty-somethings (I also lived in Tennessee for almost a decade, and saw a lot of that). I think there's currently some efforts in the California legislature to bring back a few tools in that front, and to fund facilities, but it ain't an easy problem.
In my efforts to try to work on local development policy, I'm also kinda shocked that... in the efforts to find our house in 2008, we bought a copy of the 2007 RS Means Residential Construction Square Foot Costs book. Squinting a little bit, and accepting a 120% regional costs factor, I can convince myself that it claims that at the time you could build 1200 square foot townhouse units for $155/sq.ft.
I have had several developers recently tell me that they can't build right now for less than $450/sq.ft. Especially subsidized affordable housing, because the funding sources for that sort of construction have lots of restrictions on how you can treat workers. That's before land acquisition costs.
I don't know what all of the factors are in that, I haven't delved in as deeply as I should, but I know that fire suppression and other additional building code requirements, lumber costs, and regional labor costs, are all factoring in. And, as much as we'd like to have everyone living in modern clean buildings, affordable housing isn't what you build today, it's what you built decades ago, and we haven't been allowing much to be built. Instead we add highway lanes to 101 and further marginalize transit, ensuring that the people we import to do our menial labor are at least wealthy enough to own a car, and leave their poor communities where they live.
So, yeah, when I was using the county bus system to commute, it was a cross-cultural experience. Which further makes it less comfortable to use transit, which drives people back into their cars, which creates more political will to add lanes and increase the drivers of climate change, which....
We need more shelters, more housing, more affordable housing, more knowledge that there is a sufficient safety net so that we're not as afraid of having people in our communities asking us individually for assistance, more mental health care, and less of a willingness to push our social problems out into neighboring counties.
And that feels like a really daunting list.
posted by straw at 9:16 AM on May 7, 2023 [19 favorites]
I do not understand all of the details, but in my town of 58k people the "tiny home" encampment in the parking lot of the homeless shelter came out of a lawsuit about the city not providing sufficient housing. Of course that encampment is, at most, a tenth of what we need, and a woman who was part of that lawsuit was booted from the space because she was unwilling or unable to follow some of the rules of that space and the other inhabitants complained.
Which leads to the challenge of involuntary incarceration, which was how California's Lanterman–Petris–Short Act, which Reagan signed in 1967 and which is blamed for a lot of homelessness issues, had broad bipartisan support at the time. Involuntary incarceration has a long history of being abused by religious families unhappy with the life choices being expressed by their teenagers and twenty-somethings (I also lived in Tennessee for almost a decade, and saw a lot of that). I think there's currently some efforts in the California legislature to bring back a few tools in that front, and to fund facilities, but it ain't an easy problem.
In my efforts to try to work on local development policy, I'm also kinda shocked that... in the efforts to find our house in 2008, we bought a copy of the 2007 RS Means Residential Construction Square Foot Costs book. Squinting a little bit, and accepting a 120% regional costs factor, I can convince myself that it claims that at the time you could build 1200 square foot townhouse units for $155/sq.ft.
I have had several developers recently tell me that they can't build right now for less than $450/sq.ft. Especially subsidized affordable housing, because the funding sources for that sort of construction have lots of restrictions on how you can treat workers. That's before land acquisition costs.
I don't know what all of the factors are in that, I haven't delved in as deeply as I should, but I know that fire suppression and other additional building code requirements, lumber costs, and regional labor costs, are all factoring in. And, as much as we'd like to have everyone living in modern clean buildings, affordable housing isn't what you build today, it's what you built decades ago, and we haven't been allowing much to be built. Instead we add highway lanes to 101 and further marginalize transit, ensuring that the people we import to do our menial labor are at least wealthy enough to own a car, and leave their poor communities where they live.
So, yeah, when I was using the county bus system to commute, it was a cross-cultural experience. Which further makes it less comfortable to use transit, which drives people back into their cars, which creates more political will to add lanes and increase the drivers of climate change, which....
We need more shelters, more housing, more affordable housing, more knowledge that there is a sufficient safety net so that we're not as afraid of having people in our communities asking us individually for assistance, more mental health care, and less of a willingness to push our social problems out into neighboring counties.
And that feels like a really daunting list.
posted by straw at 9:16 AM on May 7, 2023 [19 favorites]
Chicago is currently experiencing much the same issue. Where I currently work we have walk in people actively looking for shelter but can't get in. Shelter placement here is centralized* you can 311 place a request and it's tied to an acceptable location( that is a police station, hospital or community service center... and most hospitals in pandemic times don't want people who are non patients on the property... if a person has transportation and phone they don't need an location iirc) for pick up. The request is tied to the location, if the homeless person changes location or is forced to leave then the request is canceled and when re-requested in at the new location they are back at the bottom of the list. It can take over 24 hours for a request to be fufilled. Requests expire at 24 hours, so a person waiting must place a new request each day until fufilled. There is no enforcement for actually making a hospital or police station to allow a person to wait and accommodate the city waiting times, and all community service centers close at 5pm except one that operates as a warming center when it is below 32 degrees which it isn't now. It's a labyrinth. The pandemic exacerbated issues significantly. Word on the street is migrant bussing to Chicago is also impacting shelter placement, but I have no first hand knowledge that this is actually the case.
So anyway, when I encounter someone in my role who is actively seeking shelter, because I'm not part of the centralized system all I can do is the same thing that many of the people who have been seeking shelter are doing, call 311 and wait... usually fruitlessly for a placement that doesn't come. If one calls individual shelters they will instruct you to call 311. The other thing I can do is offer a bus card, which I do. In the last year I've only had one successful placement in an 8 hour shift.
*There is only one walk in shelter which is heavily religious and privately funded and not part of the city of Chicago shelter system. But to stay during the day one must attend 5 hours of religious services. Some people can stay overnight and do other things during the day somewhere else, but those spots are time limited to I think 30 days at a time. It has the largest capacity of any shelter in Chicago though. It also is very arbitrary about who it let's in.
That's my state on Chicago shelters opinion.
Primarily the reasons I hear people cite for not going to shelter here is concerns about bugs, privacy and theft.
Which are pretty reasonable things to want honestly.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2023 [7 favorites]
So anyway, when I encounter someone in my role who is actively seeking shelter, because I'm not part of the centralized system all I can do is the same thing that many of the people who have been seeking shelter are doing, call 311 and wait... usually fruitlessly for a placement that doesn't come. If one calls individual shelters they will instruct you to call 311. The other thing I can do is offer a bus card, which I do. In the last year I've only had one successful placement in an 8 hour shift.
*There is only one walk in shelter which is heavily religious and privately funded and not part of the city of Chicago shelter system. But to stay during the day one must attend 5 hours of religious services. Some people can stay overnight and do other things during the day somewhere else, but those spots are time limited to I think 30 days at a time. It has the largest capacity of any shelter in Chicago though. It also is very arbitrary about who it let's in.
That's my state on Chicago shelters opinion.
Primarily the reasons I hear people cite for not going to shelter here is concerns about bugs, privacy and theft.
Which are pretty reasonable things to want honestly.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2023 [7 favorites]
As I understand it, the criminalization of “vagrancy” is a direct result of racism and white backlash against Reconstruction and the ending of slavery.
posted by eviemath at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
As I understand it, the criminalization of “vagrancy” is a direct result of racism and white backlash against Reconstruction and the ending of slavery.
Sunlight rules by the back door, yes.
posted by jaduncan at 12:25 PM on May 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Sunlight rules by the back door, yes.
posted by jaduncan at 12:25 PM on May 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
I spent a number of years riding VTA buses and light rail in San Jose. The 22 bus was a key part of my return trip after evening shift security work: light rail from work to downtown, 22 bus from downtown to an east San Jose mall transit center, then bicycle or walk from the transit center to my house.
The bus was informally known as "Hotel 22" because of the number of unhoused people sleeping on the bus in the late-night runs; the bus route was a two-hour trip from Palo Alto to East San Jose.
While riding this bus, I did encounter a kind and caring bus driver (mentioned here) who did little things to support the disadvantaged people riding the bus. The main thing I noticed was the placement of magazines on the seats, to give people something to do during the pre-smartphone bus ride. I shared some of my old magazines with him to freshen the stock.
While the 22 bus service was cut back, leaving a gap between 2:00 AM and 4:30 AM, there are still glimmers of hope (video) on the bus.
posted by JDC8 at 6:39 PM on May 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
The bus was informally known as "Hotel 22" because of the number of unhoused people sleeping on the bus in the late-night runs; the bus route was a two-hour trip from Palo Alto to East San Jose.
While riding this bus, I did encounter a kind and caring bus driver (mentioned here) who did little things to support the disadvantaged people riding the bus. The main thing I noticed was the placement of magazines on the seats, to give people something to do during the pre-smartphone bus ride. I shared some of my old magazines with him to freshen the stock.
While the 22 bus service was cut back, leaving a gap between 2:00 AM and 4:30 AM, there are still glimmers of hope (video) on the bus.
posted by JDC8 at 6:39 PM on May 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
No, vagrancy laws date back to colonial times. However, they certainly were exploited as a tool for policing the recently freed and their descendants.
posted by praemunire at 7:49 PM on May 7, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 7:49 PM on May 7, 2023 [7 favorites]
Chicago is currently experiencing much the same issue.
The really wild thing about Chicago's currently in the news migrant housing crisis and the more general continual homelessness problem is that Chicago frequently sells houses to landlords on the south and west sides in the troubled neighborhoods for $1. All while the Chicago Housing Authority sits atop a pile of gold like they're Smaug. It's gotten so bad that the Feds threaten to cut funding to the agency because they the CHA just won't spend it.
posted by srboisvert at 2:45 AM on May 8, 2023 [7 favorites]
The really wild thing about Chicago's currently in the news migrant housing crisis and the more general continual homelessness problem is that Chicago frequently sells houses to landlords on the south and west sides in the troubled neighborhoods for $1. All while the Chicago Housing Authority sits atop a pile of gold like they're Smaug. It's gotten so bad that the Feds threaten to cut funding to the agency because they the CHA just won't spend it.
posted by srboisvert at 2:45 AM on May 8, 2023 [7 favorites]
I live in downtown Atlanta, which is overrun by the most toxic and problematic sort of homeless people. There are plenty of other sorts of homeless people, but the ones who have jobs but live in tents because they can't afford better are generally out of sight, either working or living in secluded encampments that more or less function. What passes for public transit here is just as overrun as the article makes Philly out to be.
The problem here is that only 10% of the 6M people in metro Atlanta actually live in Atlanta and not one of the balkanized suburbs. Those suburbs all send their homeless directly to Atlanta and wash their hands of them. The city government is both overwhelmed and astonishingly incompetent and corrupt, all while being held responsible for the entire metro area's homeless population. The state of Georgia is of course going to do nothing at all to help anyone other than real estate developers, sports team owners and megachurch pastors. And nobody wants to live near mentally ill and/or drug-addicted homeless people, no matter how much they might talk about affordable housing. Just recently, a neighborhood voted down a transitional house with SRO rooms for disabled people transitioning out of homelessness, because the city couldn't or wouldn't guarantee that "disabled" didn't mean "drug addicts".
I don't really see a solution that's actually feasible and that also has a remote chance of making it through the legislative process. I honestly believe that our oligarchy keeps its thumb on the scale ensuring nothing productive will happen, all to create the climate of fear and distrust that makes it easier for fascists to take over. I'll bet you anything you care to wager that a working majority of subscribers to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution think the homeless should simply be euthanized.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 10:22 AM on May 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
The problem here is that only 10% of the 6M people in metro Atlanta actually live in Atlanta and not one of the balkanized suburbs. Those suburbs all send their homeless directly to Atlanta and wash their hands of them. The city government is both overwhelmed and astonishingly incompetent and corrupt, all while being held responsible for the entire metro area's homeless population. The state of Georgia is of course going to do nothing at all to help anyone other than real estate developers, sports team owners and megachurch pastors. And nobody wants to live near mentally ill and/or drug-addicted homeless people, no matter how much they might talk about affordable housing. Just recently, a neighborhood voted down a transitional house with SRO rooms for disabled people transitioning out of homelessness, because the city couldn't or wouldn't guarantee that "disabled" didn't mean "drug addicts".
I don't really see a solution that's actually feasible and that also has a remote chance of making it through the legislative process. I honestly believe that our oligarchy keeps its thumb on the scale ensuring nothing productive will happen, all to create the climate of fear and distrust that makes it easier for fascists to take over. I'll bet you anything you care to wager that a working majority of subscribers to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution think the homeless should simply be euthanized.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 10:22 AM on May 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
This is a great article; I listened to a good podcast recently that was a panel discussion about transit and homelessness including SEPTA CEO Leslie Richards. One of the things that struck me was that her board was largely Republicans who had no interest in doing anything to deal with homelessness, that they insisted that SEPTA was a transit agency, not someone who had to solve homelessness.
Richards pointed out that if they didn't do anything to reduce homelessness, then no one would want to take their trains and buses, and pretty soon they wouldn't be a transit agency, either.
posted by Superilla at 2:54 PM on May 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
Richards pointed out that if they didn't do anything to reduce homelessness, then no one would want to take their trains and buses, and pretty soon they wouldn't be a transit agency, either.
posted by Superilla at 2:54 PM on May 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
I’ve considered for years where I would seek shelter or stay warm when houseless. My thought is always the 14 Mission.
posted by bendy at 8:49 PM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bendy at 8:49 PM on May 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Even in my small city, homelessness affects Transit. There is literally nothing done about it. We have people who smell like walking latrines. There there are people who smell so terrible I’ve gotten off particular busses and waited for the next one. I don’t know how the drivers even stand it.
There are missions. These places are awful and run by actual fascists. The really terrible part is that religious organizations are privileged by state law to do relief work. It is specifically Christian organizations. The heads of these organizations never have beat up cars or trucks. They lobby the city for money and get it too. It’s a great way for weird churches to get public money.
These organizations do not need to worry that food safety laws will be enforced on them. They do not need need to fear lawsuits if a woman or girl is sexually assaulted in the shelter. Of course bed bugs and lice are rife.
During the last 2 summers there was a mutual aid organization which existed which was basically anarchist. They distributed water and small care packages and let people rest under some shade gazebos they had. They did help with information. The police harassed them. The usual harassment was demands for bottled water.
Cops can afford their own damn water.
So they put up a big sign which said ‘No Cops’.
That of course got the rightists knickers in big knots.
I hope they come back. I’m going to give them money if they do.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:38 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
There are missions. These places are awful and run by actual fascists. The really terrible part is that religious organizations are privileged by state law to do relief work. It is specifically Christian organizations. The heads of these organizations never have beat up cars or trucks. They lobby the city for money and get it too. It’s a great way for weird churches to get public money.
These organizations do not need to worry that food safety laws will be enforced on them. They do not need need to fear lawsuits if a woman or girl is sexually assaulted in the shelter. Of course bed bugs and lice are rife.
During the last 2 summers there was a mutual aid organization which existed which was basically anarchist. They distributed water and small care packages and let people rest under some shade gazebos they had. They did help with information. The police harassed them. The usual harassment was demands for bottled water.
Cops can afford their own damn water.
So they put up a big sign which said ‘No Cops’.
That of course got the rightists knickers in big knots.
I hope they come back. I’m going to give them money if they do.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:38 AM on May 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
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