https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2022/03/04/67776468/the-peo...
I think it's great reading for anyone who believes homelessness is an issue that can be solved by throwing free housing at people.
Here's an excerpt -
>Andre said he has struggled with homelessness on and off since he was 14. That’s when he started selling at 3rd and Pine. He’s been there almost everyday since. He’s 30 now.
“You get caught up,” Andre said when I asked him why he’s spent half his life on this corner. “You make your first sale, you get a little money. Then you’re 30 and you’re still at 3rd and Pine.”
>Andre lives in an apartment thanks to a city-run housing program, but he doesn’t have a job other than selling flipped merchandise. Over the last two years, the government has forked over financial relief to taxpayers with formal jobs, but people like Andre, who work informal jobs, have not seen such benefits.
By "informal jobs", they actually mean selling stolen merchandise.
>I asked Andre what the city could do to get people to stop selling at 3rd and Pine. He said the city could give them something else to do: “Maybe build a basketball court? Somewhere to shoot hoops?”
The logic being presented here is that because the government has only given them free housing and not a free place to play basketball, it's reasonable to expect that they'll fill their days selling stolen goods. By building somewhere to shoot hoops, the problem could be solved.
This is a city where nearly any deli or corner-store has a We're Hiring sign and will gladly pay people under the table. Homelessness is a social phenomenon, not an economic wart caused by expensive housing.