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Comment by Overtonwindow | Hacker News Reader

Could this become a humanitarian crisis given the homeless and at risk? Is San Francisco capable of handling such a crisis.

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Isn't that already a humanitarian crisis?

Yes, it is. We've underbuilt housing for decades in the US.

We solved it by dehumanizing the homeless.

SF has thrown nearly 3 billion at the problem, over the past 6 years [1], but the incompetence is too extreme [2].

1. https://www.hoover.org/research/despite-spending-11-billion-...

2. https://nypost.com/2021/06/26/san-francisco-run-homeless-enc...

Homeless people can and do sometimes die in storms. Typically, emergency shelters are opened to try to mitigate the risk.

In the South Bay Area several of the creek trails and adjacent parks have been taken over as homeless camps. In particular the Guadalupe River near downtown San Jose and SJC. They're going to have a rough time.

When I first moved to SJ I tried to take a walk along about 5 different bike trails, along different creeks. I made it a few hundred feet along each, before turning a corner into an encampment and getting nasty looks from the residence. A near jab of a needle on the ground ended my desire to try any more. Some of the encampments were really massive. I had no idea.

Saratoga ended up having the only family friendly creeks that I could find.

I don’t understand why anyone would downvote your comment, except for denial of the reality that has become the Bay Area.

Sadly my prediction was correct.

https://sanjosespotlight.com/storm-displaces-san-jose-homele...

It's not just SF, but all of Northern CA and yes likely to become a crisis.

As a resident in the area, at this precise moment I would rather not own a home here.

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