Legalize housing, not tent encampments | Hacker News Reader

Legalize housing, not tent encampments

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41 pointsvwoolf10 comments

I have to say that I find little pragmatism in asserting that either tent encampments or more permanent housing may be of more worth, when the fact is that both are necessary to combat our homelessness issue as it exists right now.

Real people, right now, are living in tents in the woods somewhere because that's all they can afford. Many, if not most, are hiding there in fear of being kicked out of yet another living space. Tent encampments remedy this issue.

Just to be clear, I am speaking of government organized encampments, with access to clean water and toilets. Not just tons of tents in the middle of some street somewhere.

There are many, many days in the year...surely some of them can go to solving homelessness from both vantage points.

> Real people, right now, are living in tents in the woods somewhere because that's all they can afford.

Living in a tent in the woods isn't even that bad, not if it's a real wilderness that can provide game for hunting and vegetation for foraging. You've just gone native, big deal.

But living in a tent in a concrete jungle is a completely different situation. There's no natural habitat to be had, the resources are all locked away behind commercial gatekeepers. When you try go native in an urban center you're for all intents and purposes becoming a criminal. Instead of picking berries and killing rabbits, you're stealing from vendors and/or residents.

I don't think tent encampments are appropriate for urban centers. The big SRO buildings always struck me as the tent encampment equivalent for an urban center. But even if you make those available to the homeless, you still need to give them access to some kind of currency as that's the key required for accessing resources controlled by the gatekeepers. Otherwise you'll just have a building full of thieves.

I thought it was pretty well established at this point that homelessness isn’t a financial issue, but instead a mental health / drug abuse issue?

It’s not either / or and that list isn’t exhaustive. People who don't make enough money to stay housed may be in that situation for all kinds of reasons: market forces, mental health, addiction, disability, disease, extremely bad luck.

And it's shameful that greater society allows those causes to result in this outcome. At least that's at the root of my stack when I backtrace through my reaction to homeless encounters: shame and helplessness.

That's not a universal truth but rather a statement about one slice of space time. A recession is coming, so that might increase the numbers of homeless.

I'm pretty linked into to those providing social services to homeless in the bay area.

> I thought it was pretty well established at this point that homelessness isn’t a financial issue, but instead a mental health / drug abuse issue?

The answer to this is a definite "no". There is a meaningful sub-population of homeless with mental health / drug abuse problems for whom financial and housing support seems insufficient, but they're not the only kind of homeless and in places like the Bay Area they don't even make up the majority.

I encourage you to look at this graph[0] showing a correlation between housing prices and homelessness. But also if you are in the Bay Area, going to some of these camps and meeting people can be very instructive. I've been to a few and most people I encounter, while not the most together people you'll ever meet, many were obviously employable just not at a rate that affords housing and in the Bay Area.

[0] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_pr...

Before the days of tent-encampments there were plenty of people who rented small spaces in well-made but old, cheap hotels (c.f. Barton Fink). Helluva lot better than a tent. Then along came the wrecking balls.

One of my ancestors lost her husband just before the depression. For a couple of decades, she took in 'boarders' who held or found jobs because of that opportunity. They'd remember the rules, or else. There was even had a nice parlor up front for them to sit listen/read/visit in - all in a house with about 1000 sq.ft.

There's a theme of overbearing control of autonomy that is probably going to reach a breaking point soon. When every move we make is held hostage, ordinary people start to think radical thoughts. I curse the supreme court every time my girlfriend makes me pull out, and before that I cursed the city of Pine Bluff every day because they are preventing me from repairing or using a building I own.

I'm sure this incompetent overreach is going to end in bloodshed. There are only a couple of boxes of liberty left to choose from.

Bring back Katrina trailers.

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