Naming the Problem

For John, BLUF:  In the process of writing about how we are mischaracterizing racism in these United States, Blogger Sarah Hoyt touches on how we have misnamed some serious problems, by grouping them under the name homelessness.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Telling The Truth

From ACCORDING TO HOYT, by Writer Sarah Hoyt, 9 September 2025.

Here are the key paragraphs:

We need to have the courage to teach the truth to the young.

You know other truths we need to teach to the young? The “homeless” or “unhoused” aren’t in fact normal human beings in need of a house. The names are a lie.

Naming them that, pretending that, just points at the wrong problem and calls for the wrong action.

Yes there are a lot of people in the US who can’t afford a place to live, or are in trouble house wise, because times are hard right now, particularly for the young.

BUT–

But that doesn’t mean that people who have any skills/ability to navigate the normal world are living on the streets. Oh, there will be some: orphans without friends exist. But they’re rarer than hen’s teeth.

Most people on the street are mental health tragedies, and/or criminal and/or willfull mooches, or some combinations of all three.

And I’m torn on this, because mental health is a slippery thing, but on the other hand there’s such a thing as an obvious danger to himself and others.

Different people see different aspects of what we call homelessness.  What we call Homelessness includes people who are mentally ill, who are drug addicts,♠ who suffer from other substance abuse, and who are legitimately without housing.  There is no "one size fits all" in a situation like this.  We need a new aaproach, and perhaps the best approach would be to drop homelessness and adopt "continuum of care" for all such effortts. .

For sure, what we are doing now is not working well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  For example, Lowell Resident David Prestipino has been posting videos, appear before the City Council and appearing on City Life Show to talk about drug addiction and its pernicious imipacts..

Squatter

For John, BLUF:  How long will Citizens endure their homes being seized by illegal immigrants as squatters?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NYC squatters are cashing in on legal loopholes and crowded courts to take over homes — and good luck getting them out: experts

From The New York Post, by Reporter Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, 7 April 2024, 3:17 p.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

The Big Apple is seeing a troublesome trend of unwelcome squatters illegally bedding down in private homes and apartments in the five boroughs — and it’s gotten much harder to kick them out.

A backlog of housing court cases and changes in the law in recent years have made it a bigger and longer-lasting headache for landlords to boot unwelcome tenants, legal experts tell The Post.

“This is happening far more now than in the past,” real estate attorney Josh Price said. “Squatters have become far more sophisticated than before. They set up elaborate schemes, fake documents and investigate the homes before breaking in.”

Two changes in city law in 2019 now dictate that landlords can’t just boot a squatter without a “special proceeding,” and have to file a lawsuit to get them out.

Manhattan real estate lawyer Alan Goldberg said he’s seen a 10-to-20% bump in squatter cases over the past two years, attributing it to the migrant crisis, post-pandemic homelessness — and media coverage.

How long can this go on before we have a large number of homeless American Citizens, because their homes have been taken over by illegal immigrants squatting in their home.

Blogger Sarah Hoyt says:

The left has forgotten what happens when people lose faith in the courts and law. I’m very afraid a great lesson is coming.

. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Renting a Home Shortens Life

For John, BLUF:  I wonder if planners take this into consideration?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Research finds that renting ages you faster than smoking, obesity

From The New York Post, by Reporter Georgina Noack, 3 December 2023, 10:45 a.m. ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

No, renters, you are not imagining those grey hairs springing up on your head – your living situation is actually making you older, faster.

A landmark study out of the University of Adelaide and University of Essex has found that living in a private rental property accelerates the biological ageing process by more than two weeks every year.

The research found renting had worse effects on biological age than being unemployed (adding 1.4 weeks per year), obesity (adding 1 week per year), or being a former smoker (adding about 1.1 weeks).

It turns out that living in public housing does not have this impact on lifespan.

This is another reason why Beacon Hill should be working on giving us a major increase in affordable housing.  Affordable housing is not something we have in Lowell.  Our median income is $65,000, but the annual income needed to purchase the median home in this City is $140,000.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Approaching the Homeless Problem

For John, BLUF:  Homeslesness is a problem that is beginniing to overwhelm both Government and the People.  Action is needed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Menace of the druggies’ canvas cities

From The Conservative Woman (UK), by Mr David Raynes, November 7, 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

THE Home Secretary’s proposals to restrict the use of tents for rough sleepers within cities and fine the charities that provide the tents have been condemned as ‘heartless’ and ‘disgraceful’.

Defending her ‘hardline’ stance Suella Braverman tweeted: ‘The British people are compassionate.  We will always support those who are genui nely homeless.  But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.’  She said such people are causing nuisance and distress.

Here is a short bio (from Wikipedia) on the UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

People living on the streets is as old as time out of memory.  It will continue until the end of days.  The job of Government is to find those among the homeless who need mental health help, and provide it in a serious manner.  Further, Government should also be working to help those who are falling out of housing due to increasing costs at a time of stagnant or falling wages.♠  Finally, Government needs to ensure Citizens are not prevented from going about their normal routine and enjoyment by the congregation of homeless interrupting normal commerce.♥

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  As part of this, Government should work to create an enviornment which encourages private capital t provide additional affordable housing, to include ensuring needed infrastructure.

♥  It may not be obvious, but the ability to provide help to the homeless depends on the ability of communities to conduct normal commerce, which is taxed to fund the Government.  No commerce, no tax, no Government.

True Justice

For John, BLUF:  On 1 May 2023, 30 year old Jordan Neely died while being restrained on the F Train in New York City.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ethics Quote Of The Month:  Heather Mac Donald

From Ethics Alarms, by Mr Jack Marshall, 28 May 2023.

Here is the lede:

“When government abdicates its responsibility to maintain public safety, a few citizens, for now at least, will step into the breach. Penny was one of them. He restrained Neely not out of racism or malice but to protect his fellow passengers. He was showing classically male virtues: chivalry, courage and initiative. Male heroism threatens the entitlement state by providing an example of self-reliance apart from the professional helper class. And for that reason, he must be taken down.”

—Heather Mac Donald, in her scorching essay,
“Daniel Penny is a scapegoat for a failed system”

The death of Jordan Neely was a tragedy.  Holding Daniel Penny responsible is just the bureaucratic institution trying to cover for its failures and covering up for its larger failures with the homeless and the mentally ill.

Governments, out of fear of being sued by the ACLU, and its ilk, seems unable to develop plans to protect its citizens, and its homeless and mentally ill, aside from taking legal actions against ordinary citizens who resist the more uncivil actions of the untreated mentally ill.

Sometimes rhe Citizens don't want a Marshall Will Kane making trouble, hoping it won't touch them.  On the other hand, sometimes they vote in a Rudy Giuliani to clean up the City.

Regards  —  Cliff

Missing Housing

For John, BLUF:  Massachusetts is about 100,000 housing units short.  This is not helping.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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US Homebuilding Tumbles to Two-Year Low Amid Soaring Mortgage Rates

From The Washington Free Beacon, by Reporter Lucia Mutikani, 17 November 2022, 12:35 pm.

Here is the lede plus one:

U.S. homebuilding fell sharply in October, with single-family projects dropping to the lowest level in nearly 2-1/2 years, as the housing market buckles under the strain of surging mortgage rates, which are pricing out potential homeowners.

> Housing starts decreased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.425 million units last month, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday.  Data for September was revised higher to a rate of 1.488 million units from the previously reported 1.439 million units.

We have a homeless problem in our Commonwealth, worse in Boston than in Lowell.  There are building assets available, and we need free market efforts to put them to work.  By free market, I do include our General Court making monies available to allow building of homes.  For sure, rent control will only make this worse, as will the influx of refugees coming across our Southern Border by the thousands.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Mentally Ill

For John, BLUF:  In fighting homelessness, part of what we are fighting is mental illness.  And we aren't doing a very good joob.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dual Diagnosis

From Outnumbered, by Reporter Dagen McDowell, 14 November 2022.

While we were driving North on I-93 today we were intermittently listening to the Fox News Show, Outnumbered.  We caught Ms Dagen McDowell talking about the poor job we are doing with regard to the Mentally ill.  She was on target.

In particular, I was impressed by her analysis of how Cities are responding to those with a dual diagnosis (a mental illness and a comorbid substance use disorder).  Her point was that while the Cities (and their Counties and States) haven't funded mental health treatment, they are moving to provide free drug injection sites.  Thus, the mentally ill are being allowed, perhaps encoruaged, to self medicate.  This seems like malpractice.

Thanks for this insight, Dagen.

Regards  —  Cliff

Housing the Poor

For John, BLUF:  Public Housing is a big deal in the United States and represent the efforts of progressive thinkers to provide better housing for the poor.  However there is a question of if the cure is worse than the disease.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Poor Side of Town: And Why We Need It
Author:  Howard A. Husock
Kindle Version:  Pages
Publisher:  Encounter Books
Language:  English
ASIN:  B08SKK7FGP
Publication Date:  21 September 2021

The theme of this book is that Public Housing, as understood in the united States from the 19th Century is not just a failure, but destructive of the individuals caught up in its web.  The author compares Public Housing with the City Slums it was supposed to clean up and concludes that more was lost than gained.

To be clear, those advocating Public Housing down over the decades had the best of intentions.  What they lacked was an understandihg of, and faith in, the working of small scale democracy and capitalism.  An Economist who undertands this is Peru's Hernando De Soto, who wrote about Peru (but could apply what he says to the Great Migration in the united States):

...“surprise revolution”—the movement of millions from the countryside to cities—has been choked in its potential for uplift, not because slum dwellers lack talent or energy but because the legal systems in their new locales don’t allow them to be secure in ownership and accumulate wealth.  New arrivals in slums, de Soto explains, face “an impenetrable wall” of rules that bar them from “legally established social and economic activities.”  Even when they begin to accumulate assets, those assets aren’t safe.  “Poor people save, but they hold these resources in defective forms:  houses built on land whose ownership rights are not adequately recorded and unincorporated businesses with undefined liability.  Without the formal legal institutions that allow one to accumulate wealth and borrow against it to build businesses, wealth cannot be put to full use, maintains de Soto.  It stays locked up, frozen.  It is 'dead capital.'”

Immigrants to the United States from Europe moved into slums and then worked their way into the middle class.  The slums, as inadequate as they were, provided commmunity and a place for small businesses and the chance to accumulate wealth.  This, in turn, allowed those immigrants to move into the Great American Middle Class.

The author mentions Levittown as an example of inexpensive housing providing a chance for people with jobs to move up to home ownership.  In 1955 my Parents moved to Levittown, PA, and it was exactly as the book states.  A mix of people, working to be neighbors and to improve themselves.  A year later, as an Eighth Grader I was angry that we were leaving for Southern California and a promotion for my Father.  But, that starter house, owned for about ten months, was the beginning of family wealth accumulation that, upon the passing of my Father, allowed me to use my one-third inheritance to pay off my own mortgage.

Where this did not work was for Black Americans who were part of the Great Migration.  The Great Migration was from 1910 to 1970.  People left the South, the Old South, and moved North.  But, they didn't get the chance to grow into home owners and independent business people.  Instead, the Do Gooders wished to enure runnning water and adequate toilet facilities, and adequate housing.  Thus the projects.

However, the Publilc Housing Projects did not allow for the accummulation of wealth.  In fact, in many cases rents were tied to inconme.  Further, the arrangements dicouraged co-habitation.  This worked against the building of family units, with its direct effect on child rearing.♠  It also worked against providing living space for family memembers or for renting out a room, which would allow the building of capital.

The author writes:

“Missing middle” housing—privately built and unsubsidized—should be seen as a substitute for the reform projects that have distorted housing markets, skewed the incentives of lower-income families, denied the poor the opportunity to accumulate assets, and leveled historic and vibrant poor sides of town, leaving sterility and despair behind.

One wonders if this analysis can be extended to the homeless problem.  Granted, homelessness is a cover term for a number of issues.  That said, is our approach to homelessness (not connected to mental health or domestic violence) not helping the homeless become productive members of society?

But, beyond Public Housing there is the issue of Zoning in helping or hurting the poor to achieve home ownership.  Zoning is not so much a Federal issue as it is a Local Government issue.  That level of government is thee and me and our influence on our local lawmakers and those they appoint to Boards and Commissions.  That means we need to be informed and we need to vote.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  There seems to be a certain bias against the baby father in these setups.  He was seen as not necessary by the reformers.

Mass and Cass Crime

For John, BLUF:  When the local news starts reporting on crime in areas where the homeless congregate it is a sign that action needs to be taken.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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‘I’m unnerved by it’:  Attorney calls for change after he says he was attacked while driving through Boston

From WHDH (7 News), by Reporter Nick Emmons, 9 December 2021.

Here is the lede plus three:

BOSTON (WHDH) - A local attorney says he feared for his life after he was attacked while driving in Boston.

After meeting with a client at the South Bay jail, Hassan Williams said he beeped at a man for blocking traffic near an intersection in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard — an area plagued by homelessness and drug use.

That is when he said another man came forward and began swinging a broken piece of a wheelchair at his car.  The discarded footpad shattered Williams’ windshield and passenger side window and ended up on the floorboard among scattered shards of glass.  Another person allegedly threw some food at the car as well.

“I have food and bodily fluids all over my car because I couldn’t get out of the car, because I have a mob sitting outside the car.  I couldn’t stay in the car because I have a guy smashing my car,” he explained.  “I’m like, what the heck am I gonna do?”

The first lesson to be learned is that one should avoid locations where the homeless congregate.

The second lesson to be learned is that if in an area where homeless congregate one should not call attention to oneself, nor should one irritate the homeless milling around.

That said, this is about policing in cities.  There need to be minimum standards of behavior, enforced.  There needs to be mental health help for those who need it.  Open drug markets need to be suppressed.  Safe spaces to walk zre needed.  This is local government.  Stte Government can help, but it is about local government setting and enforcing stndards.  And it is about local residents getting out and voting.  Nothing gets the attention of politicians like a strong voter turnout

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Homeless Problem

For John, BLUF:  We know there is a homeless issue, but many don't understand it, and the different factors that have gone into creating it, from mental health to drug addiction to domestic violence to lack of affordable housing.  We need a broader look and ore comprehensive solution.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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It’s mental health, stupid:  How Team Biden misunderstands homeless crisis

Here is the sub-headline:

From The New York Post, by Howard Husock September 20, 2021, 6:48pm.

Here is the lede plus four:

Team Biden is asking mayors, governors and tribal leaders to pledge to reduce homelessness in exchange for new federal rental assistance and support for new housing construction.  The initiative is called House America, but it should be dubbed Misunderstand America.

Yes, housing prices are up post-pandemic: Demand is growing, supply stalled.  But that isn’t why there are massive homeless encampments plaguing cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle — and even New York, where the de Blasio administration is forced to play whack-a-mole with tent encampments.

Some rough-sleepers would relish permanent housing, yes.  But many would also choose to stay on the streets.  That’s because untreated mental illness, not a housing shortage, is the real source of the problem for a significant share of the homeless.

In 2015 (the most recent such survey), the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that at least 25 percent of the US homeless, or 140,000 people, were seriously mentally ill; 45 percent suffered from mental illness of some kind.  Serious mental illness isn’t garden-variety anxiety or melancholy.  It’s the sort of paranoid schizophrenia that can involve voices instructing the patient to push a young woman toward an oncoming subway train.

Others are haunted by the demon of addiction.  As the Substance Abuse and Treatment Center has reported, “tragically, homelessness and substance abuse go hand-in-hand.  The end result of homelessness is often substance abuse, and substance abuse often contributes to homelessness.”  The National Coalition for the Homeless has found that 38 percent of homeless people are alcohol-dependent, while 26 percent are dependent on other harmful chemicals.

Across the nation our homeless programs are, by and large, a mess.  Yes, San Francisco is much worse than Lowell, but we all have problems, both in understand the breadth and depth of the proble and in executing solutions.

And here is a key point:

What links all these troubled populations is a desperate need for treatment.  There was a time not long ago when we understood this — and every state maintained an extensive network of residential psychiatric hospitals to provide care, or at least try to do so.

So, going for the dollar quote:

Now tent encampments (and jails and prisons) have replaced those inpatient facilities.

We need to bring back mental hospitals.  We need to train more mental health workers.  We can't build our way out of the homeless crisis.

That said, some current COVID-19 fighting economic policies will make affordable shelter less available and action will be neeeded in that direction as well.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Ending Homelessness

For John, BLUF:  The Homeless are a problem that will never go away, but it shouldn't be as bad as it is.  And, mental health is probably a large part of the solution.  But, not the whole solution.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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It’s time to finally end homelessness

From The [Lowell] Sun, by Messers Donald Whitehead and Joel Segal, 23 June 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

On any given night in the United States, upward of a halfmillion people are homeless. And that doesn’t include the millions of others who are living hand- to- mouth in hotels, or doubled up with family members or acquaintances, in often highly stressful temporary housing situations.

A recent study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of more than 6.8 million affordable housing units for low- income Americans. “ The crisis created by COVID-19 has made it clearer than ever that stable, affordable housing for all is an imperative for public health, individual well- being, and our country,” said Diane Yentel, the group’s president and CEO.

We have the problem of homelessness, but we also have the problem of not enough housing stock.  Up here in Northern Middlesex County, in Massachusetts, we are expecting an increase of 200,000 people between 2015 and 2040.♠  Who is going to build the needed housing?  I am not sure we have the incentives in place to create that housing.

We need to start looking at this.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  That is not counting our "fair share" of illegal immigrants coming across our Southern Border, which could be a million this year.  Thet are not all stying in Texas, or New Mexico, or Arizona, or California.

Homelessness on the West Coast

For John, BLUF:  Homelessness is a growing problem, and I an not seeing any solutions.  One thing we can do is write our US Representative (in my case, Ms Lori Trahan, asking for the Federal Government to take the lead on reforming our mental health program.  Not take over, but help the States.  As you have, John.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Homeless Camps Are Taking Over the West Coast

From PJ Media, by Mr Kevin Downey, Jr, 9 May 2021, 12:47 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

Democrat cities have allowed hundreds of homeless encampments to pop up along the West Coast.

Homelessness isn’t new to places like San Francisco, L.A., Seattle, Sacramento, and so on.  I was in Portland 12 years ago for a comedy gig.  The park in front of the club looked like a scene from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.  Today it looks like the Walking Dead.

Homeless camps are popping up all over the West Coast and bringing violence, drugs, weapons, and defecation with them.  When I was a kid, camping meant fishing and catching toads, not getting shot and stepping in people poop.

Los Angeles has seen a 50% increase in homelessness over the last five years.  LA’s Venice Beach homeless encampment recently had an explosion and a shooting.  The question city officials are asking:  where did they find the ammo?

Homelessness isn't just one problem.  It is at least four different problems.

• Adult Homelessness (Trifecta of mental illness, drug addiction and homeless)
• Domestic Violence (DV) (relocation as a solutIon)
• Homeless families without shelter (Perhaps even one employed)
• Youth Homelessness (Often Couch Surfing at friends' homes)

Each is a separate problem, requiring separate solutions.  Some need mental health help.  Some need affordable housing.  Some need protection from an abusive partner.

On the West Cosast it looks like politicalization has gotten in the way of effective solutions.  That is sad for the victims and for the Citizen taxpayers. Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Fixing Things the Wrong Way

For John, BLUF:  It seems a lot of folks think that they can stamp their foot and things will just happen.  Perhaps they are correct, but it seems like a bad precedent.  Free People should negotiate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Armed Antifa Occupy Hotel, Shout at Cops:  'Pigs in a Blanket, Fry 'Em Like Bacon'

From PJ Media, by Reporter tyler O'neil, 1 February 2021, 10:43 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus three:

On Sunday, a group of homelessness activists who dressed up in antifa-style black bloc, armed with batons and knives, entered the lobby of the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia, Wash., demanding the hotel open rooms for homeless people.  Antifa agitators allegedly assaulted an employee while other employees hid in a basement room for more than six hours.  The police eventually secured the hotel, but in the skirmish, agitators chanted, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon,” a death threat against cops.

Hotel employees first called the cops at about 11 a.m. Sunday.  The staff said a “mob of people wearing black” armed with hatchets, batons, and knives had entered the lobby and demanded the hotel open rooms to them, KIRO7 reported.  The antifa agitators wore gas masks, helmets, and goggles, apparently preparing for a battle.

The antifa agitators, organized with the group Oly Housing Now, occupied the hotel after advocates had booked 17 rooms and demanded that Thurston County continue to pay for the room with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding.

The Olympia Police Department (OPD) estimated about 45 antifa agitators stormed the hotel, both inside and outside the building.  After staff hunkered down in the basement for hours, police finally evacuated them from the building, the city announced.

I have my hand cupped to my ear, but I can not seem to hear any Democratic Party members condemning this action, this kind of action.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Who Is In Charge Here?

For John, BLUF:  Coronavirus is causing more people to give voice to their concerns.  This is an OpEd from a new on-line publication, Done.♠  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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OpEd:  Why is a Social Worker Dictating COVID-19 Policy for the Country’s Largest County?

From Done, an OpEd, 16 May 2020.

Here is the lede plus seven:

Los Angeles County is, by a wide margin, the most populous county in the United States.  At an estimated 10 million, its population is larger than all but seven states and over a hundred countries.  In fact, LA County has nearly the same number of inhabitants as, dare I say it, Sweden.  Yes, that neo-Nazi, baby-killing, fascist, herd immunity gathering, bastion of pure evil Sweden (sarcasm intended).  Not only is LA County full of people, it is also full of money, having nearly the same GDP as Saudi Arabia.

A county with that population and wealth should have an army of world class scientists leading the battle in the fight against COVID-19.  Let’s take a look at who is leading this world class team.

Dr. Barbara FerrerOur LA County Public Health Commissioner is Dr. Barbara Ferrer.  You can find her bio here.

Impressive, right? Well, look a little closer.  She must have graduated from a top-tier medical school, or so one would think…

Now is when I usually get the “OMG” response, even from the most liberal of liberals.

To be clear she is not even a medical doctor. She has a Doctorate in “Social Welfare.”  So essentially, we have a high-powered social worker (albeit one of the most well-known in the country) leading the largest county in the United States in the fight of our lives against this biological threat.

Yes, this is the real-life version of “I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV.”

Instead of looking at science and data and adapting her public health response to attack what we now know are the strengths and weaknesses of this virus, she is essentially behaving like an elementary school principal (probably because she was one).  Exerting her new-found unchallengeable and unelected power over an entire population that she views as children.  She tells us what to do, how to do it, and even threatens to take away our few remaining freedoms, if we misbehave.

As President Obama recently said:

More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing.

I think the assumption was that that was a swipe at President Trump.  I think the jibe really applies at the coal face, where things are done in our Federal System.

I suspect there are underlying cultural problems that increase the spread of coronavirus in LA.  For example the homeless problem.  How do we fix these underlying problems?  For example, the overall health of the homeless puts them about ten years older than the physical age.  This is a favor in COVID-19 deaths.  Social distancing is harder in a homeless environment.  What about hand washing?  Likely less.

And, the solutions are not just based in building things.  There is the needed changes in social mores.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  "Launched on Earth Day 2020, in the midst of the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Done.com celebrates the heroes and calls out the villains amongst companies, business leaders, athletes & celebrities, politicians and everyday people.  We aim to shine the bright lights of transparency on brands, organizations and people, and commend them or hold them accountable for what they have, or haven't 'done.'"

Bad Housing

For John, BLUF:  Is it the housing or the upbringing of the tenets?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"A little more than a year after its opening, a Far East Side Madison low-income housing complex has been declared a chronic nuisance...

"... and its owner could face fines and other charges if it doesn't make changes to improve quality of life and public safety there.... In its April 9 notice declaring the property a nuisance, the city points to three of the most serious incidents: a 4-year-old accidentally shot in the foot on Feb. 26; a tenant's nephew shot in the leg outside the tenant's apartment on March 17, and an argument between two tenants over loud music that escalated into a physical fight on March 31...."

I thought maybe this post from 13 May was a put up by Professor Althouse, but it was apparently real enough.  And it shows some of the issues with public housing.

One of those Commenting caught a big chunk of the problem.  Back in the 1960s President Lyndon Barnes Johnson, with good intent, tried to make up for a hundred years of segregation, but he managed to take a big nick out of the rising Black Middle Class.  His legislative program created a series of perverse incentives.  Perverse incentives that better housing management won’t cure.

During World War Two we destroyed 40% of German housing, yet when I lived there 22 years later housing was plentiful and I was able to rent a nice ranch style house, with detached garage, on a double lot.  Yet we can't, today, do that for our own citizens.

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

Homelessness in a Time of Pandemic

For John, BLUF:  Homelessness, even with Federal inputs, is still a local problem, with local people being at the coalface.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Another Vulnerable Population

Here is the sub-headline:

The homeless present special challenges in the current crisis.

From City Journal, by Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Stephen Eide, 16 March 2020.

Here is the lede plus two:

Thus far, no homeless people have tested positive for coronavirus, though that may be due mainly to the sporadic nature of America’s current testing regime.  Homeless-services agencies long ago realized the threat that they face.  The “phony war” character of the last few weeks has given officials time to plan their response. Most assume an outbreak of COVID-19 among the homeless as a question of when, not if.

The homeless population is large and diverse, and some are more at risk than others, both in terms of contracting the virus and dying from it.  Many of the street homeless practice social distancing as a lifestyle.  Shelters strictly regulate access by non-clients.  The homeless are unlikely to have attended a Biogen conference or traveled recently on a cruise or plane.

But the social isolation of the homeless has major downsides as well, insofar as it may impede the heightened public-health consciousness that officials claim is crucial to mitigating the crisis.  A number of news articles have reported worries among the homeless, but it’s hard to say how representative those reports are, because low-functioning, highly isolated homeless people are less likely to speak to reporters.

The article continues as an even handed and balanced look at the problems of homelessness in a time of a pandemic.

Then we have, from Pajama Media, by Ms Victoria Taft, 15 March 2020.

California's Governor Just Admitted He Could Have Removed Diseased-Filled Homeless Camps All Along

This is a more cynical look at the homeless problem:

California is the place where nearly 50% of the nation's homeless population have congregated to kick back, live on the beach, collect a check, and use and abuse drugs with impunity.

Citizens from San Diego, where the homeless were hit especially hard by Hepatitis A, to Los Angeles, where typhoid is making a comeback, to San Francisco, where there are visible urine lines on buildings in The Tenderloin, Californians have begged, pleaded, demanded that something be done about the filthy conditions, which threaten everyone's health.  But progressive politicians have done nothing but make such behavior easier.  People like former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon decriminalized anti-social behaviors – open-air drugging, urinating and pooping on the streets. He refused to enforce the law and, indeed, wrote Proposition 47 – passed by voters – that has made the homeless problem even worse.  Gascon is now running for Los Angeles district attorney.

Despite these pleas from the public, little to nothing has been done to get people off the streets and enforce the law to discourage even more from coming.  Californians are being told, in effect, that they're mean and nasty for wanting the drugging, sleeping, pooping, peeing homeless to shove off.  Elected officials claim that they have no way to do this because of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.  By enforcing few if any laws, they entice more to come.

But in Sunday's news conference on the coronavirus, COVID-19, Governor Gavin Newsom gave away the game. In announcing that people 65 and over should stay home and ordering bars, wineries, and breweries to be closed, Newsom also had a word about the homeless and the virus.

Newsom told reporters, "We’re working in real-time to secure hotels, motels, and trailers to house our homeless safely and protect our communities and the spread of COVID-19."

The difference between now and then is that today we are willing to trample on Civil Rights and before we were willing to allow the rights of some to be trampled to protect the freedoms of others.  No longer.

I hope that when the Coronavirus pandemic is over that we can continue with more positive efforts to end homeless.  Having said that, I recognize that while some of it is mental health, part of it is from social policy failures.  How do we fix that?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Squeegee Man is Back in NYC

For John, BLUF:  Panhandlnig comes in various forms, one of which is someone who will come up to your car at a stop light and squirt water on it (or worse) and then offer to clean it for small price.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Squeegee men, scourge of the ‘90s, are back in New York

From The New York Post, by Reporters Sam Raskin and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, 16 February 2020

So, if the street level auto windshield washers are back, does that mean the economy is much better, and they see a way to earn money, or is this a reaction to the new New York State attitude toward bail and the Squeegee Men see themselves as free to do as they wish, no matter how the victims of the windshield washing feel.

Yes, this is a kind of issue that will pit the individual citizens against their government, perhaps resulting in the People being cowed, or the government removed at the next election.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Homelessness in the Big Apple

For John, BLUF:  While Homelessness is not a major issue in Lowell, it is a problem.  Just not the big problem it is out on the Coast, in major cities, or along the Eastern Seaboard, from Boston to DC.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NYC's homeless are suffering amid de Blasio mismanagement, critics say

From Fox New, by Reporter Emily DeCiccio, 20 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus eight:

New York City’s homeless shelters are overloaded as an estimated 80,000 people sleep in shelters or on the streets, but Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has failed in its attempts to solve the problem -- and other cities are suffering from the Democrat’s policy, according to critics.

In 2017, the city’s Human Resources Administration implemented the Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA) program in attempts to take a bite out of the Big Apple’s homelessness crisis.  Kathryn Kliff, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society’s Homeless Rights Project, told Fox News that SOTA was meant to be used as one of many tools for New York City to help homeless people and families get out of shelters and find permanent housing -- often outside the city.

“SOTA is a program that gives families that have a future ability to pay rent, a year's worth of rent upfront to help them get settled,” Kliff said.  “It was created with the idea that once the program ends, they'll take over the rental payments because they have some designated source of income.”

Arianna Fishman, a spokesperson for New York City’s Department of Homelessness (DHS), explained to Fox News that SOTA “provides the extra help needed to get back on the path to permanency and stability through one-time assistance for those households with income that have identified housing, both within and beyond the five boroughs of New York City.”

Kliff added that SOTA has been used for families who may not qualify for other housing vouchers, and is meant to help them move out of shelters because housing in New York City has been so expensive.

The cost of living in Manhattan reportedly was 148 percent higher than the average cost for major U.S. cities in 2019.  The average rent in Manhattan for the month of December 2019 increased by 0.29 percent, from $4,108.24 in November to $4,120.20, according to M.N.S. Real Estate NYC.

David Salvatore, a member of the Providence City Council in Rhode Island, explained that while the concept of SOTA was positive, the implementation was lacking.

“I heard about it through various news outlets,” Salvatore, a Democrat, said.  “It was news to many of us that new residents would be moving in who received a one-year rent subsidy from New York City.”

Fishman noted that the de Blasio administration was in contact with other jurisdictions, but did not indicate whether local governments previously had received a heads-up regarding SOTA.

So, New York City has a major homeless problem.  In fact, their homeless problem is almost the size of Lowell (well, about 75% of Lowell).  And they are dealing with it, in part, by exporting the problem.  They are giving people money to live elsewhere.  Elsewhere, as in not New York City.

The New York City homeless solution is abusive of other political entities and fails to consider the various reasons for homelessness.  Not everyone is homeless because their rent went up but their income didn't.  (And some of that is due to short sighted actions by local governments in the area of zoning and use of incentives to housing builders.)  Some are homeless due to addiction.  Some are homeless due to untreated mental illness.  Some suffer from both.  Some lack the socialization that allows them to be productive members of society.  Some just want the freedom of not being tied down by a home.  There is no one size fits all solution.

On the other hand, there is this about New York City:

Why Manhattan’s Skyscrapers Are Empty

Here is the sub-headline:

Approximately half of the luxury-condo units that have come onto the market in the past five years are still unsold.

From The Atlantic (via Apple News), by Reporter Derek Thompson, 16 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus six:

In Manhattan, the homeless shelters are full, and the luxury skyscrapers are vacant.

Such is the tale of two cities within America’s largest metro. Even as 80,000 people sleep in New York City’s shelters or on its streets, Manhattan residents have watched skinny condominium skyscrapers rise across the island.  These colossal stalagmites initially transformed not only the city’s skyline but also the real-estate market for new homes.  From 2011 to 2019, the average price of a newly listed condo in New York soared from $1.15 million to $3.77 million.

But the bust is upon us.  Today, nearly half of the Manhattan luxury-condo units that have come onto the market in the past five years are still unsold, according to The New York Times.

What happened? While real estate might seem like the world’s most local industry, these luxury condos weren’t exclusively built for locals.  They were also made for foreigners with tens of millions of dollars to spare.  Developers bet huge on foreign plutocrats—Russian oligarchs, Chinese moguls, Saudi royalty—looking to buy second (or seventh) homes.

But the Chinese economy slowed, while declining oil prices dampened the demand for pieds-à-terre among Russian and Middle Eastern zillionaires.  It didn’t help that the Treasury Department cracked down on attempts to launder money through fancy real estate. Despite pressure from nervous lenders, developers have been reluctant to slash prices too suddenly or dramatically, lest the market suddenly clear and they leave millions on the table.

The confluence of cosmopolitan capital and terrible timing has done the impossible:  It’s created a vacancy problem in a city where thousands of people are desperate to find places to live.

From any rational perspective, what New York needs isn’t glistening three-bedroom units, but more simple one- and two-bedroom apartments for New York’s many singles, roommates, and small families.  Mayor Bill De Blasio made affordable housing a centerpiece of his administration.  But progress here has been stalled by onerous zoning regulations, limited federal subsidies, construction delays, and blocked pro-tenant bills.

We have a social problem.  And we have a moral problem.  This is a local problem, to be solved locally.  When we get Federal money to solve this problem we are just taking money from one region to help another region.  That is a shifting of burden.  Fixing this problem will involve more than Federal Government (Department of Housing and Urban Development) "Housing First" program.  Mental Health support is needed, as well as help with addiction.  Perhaps of equal importance is helping people change their cultural approach to work, housing and family life.  A problem is that today not everyone sees work as a human good.

In the mean time, all of us need to be supportive of our local government and any non-governmental organization involved in helping the homeless.  Volunteer somewhere.  Attend meetings of your local Hunger and Homeless Commission.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Another Look At Homelessness

For John, BLUF:  Homelessness is a complex problem, we’re not solving in the holistic manner required.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Homelessness Isn’t Just a Humanitarian Problem

Here is the sub-headline:

California activists are undermining their cause by ignoring and stigmatizing legitimate concerns about social disorder.

Notes that half of America's homeless live in California.

From Bloomberg, by Ms Virginia Postrel, October 3, 2019

Here is the lede plus one:

California has a homelessness crisis, but Californians don’t agree about what it is.

To homeless advocates, social service providers, many politicians and most journalists, it’s a humanitarian problem — a social tragedy of rapidly increasing numbers of men, women and families living without shelter, vulnerable to crime, disease and degradation. This state of affairs, they believe, is a “moral disaster.”

For sure, homelessness is a humanitarian crisis.  On the other hand, it isn’t just one thing.  The are those homeless due to a combination of addiction and mental illness (dual diagnosis).  Then there are those ended up homeless because housing prices keep creeping up, faster than their pay increases.  Then there are those who fell off the economic carousel, and haven't yet gotten back on.  Finally, there are those who just want to live free.

No one solution will deal with all those problems.  And especially, "Rent Control" is not a solution.

What did H L Mencken say?

There’s always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible and wrong.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Bad Analysis Leads To Bad Solutions

For John, BLUF:  The author argues that some of our social problems may not be due to evil corporations, but rather cultural shifts as we embraced more freedom in our interactions, leading to a breakdown in relationships.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The tragic — and overlooked — fallout from the ’60s sexual revolution

From The New York Post, by Ms Mary Eberstadt, 23 August 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

Declining life expectancy, mass shootings, alarming rates of mental illness, rising white nationalism, the opioid crisis:  By many measures, our society is in trouble, and we are ignoring a root cause:  the unprecedented familial dispersion that followed the 1960s sexual revolution.

At heart, that revolution aimed to radically sever human sexuality from marriage and child-rearing, from the responsibilities society had hitherto imposed on the individual sexual appetite.  Afterward, fatherless homes, family shrinkage and breakup, childlessness and abortion all became commonplace.  The net effect of these changes is having fewer people to call one’s own.

Many Americans would say that their own lives have been enhanced mightily by the new liberties wrought by the ’60s revolution.  Perhaps.  But if we examine what these same changes have delivered at a collective level, an unsettling picture emerges.

One feature of the new landscape is widespread loneliness.  And while initial studies were trained on the isolated elderly, scholarly focus is rapidly expanding as social-science data reveal ravaging isolation at the opposite end of the spectrum.

I believe Ms Mary Eberstadt is correct, but I believe her analysis is incomplete.  We need to examine the impact of LBJ (Great Society) and California Assemblyman Jim Hayes (No Fault Divorce).  These were not political actions that strengthen the family.  Just the opposite.  I think that, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan pointed out in his report, The Negro Family:  The Case Fore Nation action, family life can have a major impact on culture and on individual success.

Until we fix the family everything else is just bandaids.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff