Well, it's easier to manage the problem if you have a camp or something where you can concentrate them.  Maybe we can finally have a solution to the problem.

I usually don't encourage hitchhiking but living under a bridge in Iowa would be a little too hardcore for my tastes.

Also, I have a feeling that rent would be cheaper than heating a camper with propane.

Libertad!

Why don't they just do all those jobs Americans won't do? Seems silly to import workers when we have enough unemployed people to fill up entire camps.

inner ted: so iowa is getting more & more like portland?

awesome - maybe some of you will move back

/ptown rage

Since Portland is somehow your birthright, I am just going to assume that you are full-blooded Chinook.

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Why don't they just do all those jobs Americans won't do? Seems silly to import workers when we have enough unemployed people to fill up entire camps.

notsureifserious.jpg

you do realize that most homeless people have untreated mental illness and/or drug addictions that render them incapable of holding a job.... right?

inner ted: /bet you love to point and scream 'gentrification' a lot too

I AM gentrification but I also think people should be able to move around, this isn't the freaking Middle Ages.

I've always hated that "locals only" bullshiate, sorry surfer Cheech, this ocean ain't yours alone.

It's a side effect of removing support for mental hospitals... the opposite of the intended consequence. Well, except for those wanting to cut taxes.

nullptr: Tyrosine: And after the fence, will they be installing showers?

Hygiene sure is important when you are living outside! You also need to watch out for lice...

Bayer has been working on an insecticide that might take care of those.

inner ted: /i get it, you were the "weird" one in what ever town you came from.  but now you are here and you don't stand out.
/the irony


I get it, you like to stand on street corners with a feather duster in your colon and pass judgement on the world like some ostrich oracle.  After a quick huff of of Nipsy Russell's jock strap, you have "visions" of pure truth.  Say it like it is birdman.

alternate answer

Dad?

He don't know me very well, do he?

This will end well.

Mr.Poops: don't have much sympathy for the homeless. Yes, there are some mentally handicapped homeless people that have no other options -- but many homeless choose to be homless because they're lazy or just don't care.
---------------
It is not just as easy as a person "making the choice" to be homeless. Mental illness is one of the biggest issues that bring on the behaviors that ultimately lead to living on the street. It is a far larger problem than people realize as not every person who cannot hold a job is running around with a tin-foil beanie and howling at he moon. There is a whole array of behaviors that will lead to the eviction of a person who may have been in a fine situation prior.

Even if one argues that some people chose to be homeless, it is not a choice made with a clear mind. These same people often also believe things like the fact that (remember, in their minds) that the government placed roaches with radio transmitters n their apartments to watch them. So they stopped living in the apartment and moved to the street. These same persons with their "chosen" homelessness, also self-medicate because the mental health facilities they sorely need are not available to them because they do not exist. But a bottle of MD20/20 helps quiet voices and lessen the ruminations for a while and they can afford it as opposed to a health plan that costs hundreds of dollars a month.

No, it is not logical, but that is the life. And yes, while some may "choose" that life, consider that soundness of logic of that decision in light of some of their other choices for perspective. The reasons people live under bridges are a bit more involved than just saying that this is "what they wanted". See what I am getting at?
---
The bridge(s) in question (Bing Map | as best I can figure). Living under a bridge is absolutely no fun. Trust me on this. However, if persons are doing so, there is a problem with the shelter system for any number of reasons from safety to not enough beds. Mayor Frank Cownie said he does not want to "criminalize the homeless" and "I don't think anybody is going to throw anybody in jail", yet the city is quick to post eviction notices. And what do you think will happen if people do not vacate? You guessed it - arrest.

There are countless and distinct reasons why they are homeless. Yes, some of the reasons of substance abuse, mental health and all the other issues apply - and in a very real way. But there are other parts of the equation people like to conveniently forget. Something as simple as a person with an arrest record, will have a far more difficult time finding a job than a person who does not or has the resources to explain or fight the conviction. Just a simple arrest record, say.....something like being evicted from a homeless camp under a bridge and then being arrested for vagrancy puts yet another obstacle in the path to get out of living under that bridge. And try to explain that to a potential employer. And when you can't pay the rent, what is a viable (albeit undesireable) alternative>> Yup, you guessed it....living under a bridge.

But that's ok....because "many homeless choose to be homless" (sic). and you will be with like minded people, yes? It will be like Burning Man, except a lot cheaper!! Also, you won't have to drive 500 miles in the desert or worry about being a participant as opposed to an observer because you have no choice in the matter - you are a participant whether you like it or not. Again, see what I am getting at?

And after the city comes to your rescue (usually during the election cycle) and you told to move or be arrested, it just becomes time to find another bridge I suppose. and wait until the next group of lawmakers feel it necessary to "search for better solutions for the homeless, focusing on public safety and public health." because it worked so well the time before?

Bottom line: nobody says you have to like the homeless. Just don't make their lives more difficult by furthering the myths that living on the street is a happy-happy-joy-joy world of self-determination and Ayn Randian bliss. Yeah, there are some people who are pretty rough out there, but there is a large portion of homeless people who, while not totally lost, still just keep sinking below the waterline of life. They able to grasp for enough air not to drown. But they still are in the water. Please don't thow them cinder blocks painted to look like life preservers.

Kazan: Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Why don't they just do all those jobs Americans won't do? Seems silly to import workers when we have enough unemployed people to fill up entire camps.

notsureifserious.jpg

you do realize that most homeless people have untreated mental illness and/or drug addictions that render them incapable of holding a job.... right?

Unemployed mentally ill dopers?  You mean typical Fartbongo voters right?

dv-ous: Kazan: Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Why don't they just do all those jobs Americans won't do? Seems silly to import workers when we have enough unemployed people to fill up entire camps.

notsureifserious.jpg

you do realize that most homeless people have untreated mental illness and/or drug addictions that render them incapable of holding a job.... right?

Hey, I have an idea.

Let's make a distinction between chronically homeless mental cases and 20-somethings who need a place to stay between stints of couch-surfing because they're saving money for a down payment and it's too cold to sleep in the car.

That would be cool.

I may be mentally ill, but i was never THAT far gone.

don't be so touchy.. i was obv talking about the persistently homeless. a broke college student doesn't count because they can generally move back in with mommy.

dv-ous: Kazan: dv-ous: Kazan: Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: Why don't they just do all those jobs Americans won't do? Seems silly to import workers when we have enough unemployed people to fill up entire camps.

notsureifserious.jpg

you do realize that most homeless people have untreated mental illness and/or drug addictions that render them incapable of holding a job.... right?

Hey, I have an idea.

Let's make a distinction between chronically homeless mental cases and 20-somethings who need a place to stay between stints of couch-surfing because they're saving money for a down payment and it's too cold to sleep in the car.

That would be cool.

I may be mentally ill, but i was never THAT far gone.

don't be so touchy.. i was obv talking about the persistently homeless. a broke college student doesn't count because they can generally move back in with mommy.

Touchy? I wrote that with a big grin on my face. Sorry it didn't carry through.

If ever you need a little kick in the pants, spend a night in a homeless shelter. "There but for the grace of god go I" isn't the half of it.

But putting that "persistently" or "chronically" before the homeless is just cricket.

i thought i detected snark, but it doesn't carry well in text.

brap: I usually don't encourage hitchhiking but living under a bridge in Iowa would be a little too hardcore for my tastes.

Also, I have a feeling that rent would be cheaper than heating a camper with propane.

You didn't put much thought into that second sentence, did you?

HortusMatris: They're talking about doing something like this in my town this year, too, and they're calling it Opportunity Village.  This idea doesn't seem to be placating the Occupy protesters, though, who are still downtown protesting the ban on letting people just camp out in any public space they want.

Why should Occupy be placated by mere talk about looking for a nonprofit to do something next summer?

Greylight: A start. If there is a need why not more shelters? Or to save money why not state welfare that pays for accommodations. Homeless living in camps is a shamful display of the communities priorities.

Needs are infinite; resources are not.  Welcome to economics 101.

BarkingUnicorn: brap: I usually don't encourage hitchhiking but living under a bridge in Iowa would be a little too hardcore for my tastes.

Also, I have a feeling that rent would be cheaper than heating a camper with propane.

You didn't put much thought into that second sentence, did you?

You ask a lot of rhetorical questions don't you?

I feel sorry enough for people in dead moines already

must be a real horror show if you're stuck there homeless...hopeless...another man's sac

everyone knows the bestest place to be homeless is iowa city

and live in the steam tunnels by the bridge

chud...

LiberalEastCoastElitist: Kazan: you do realize that most homeless people have untreated mental illness been in and out of mental health facilities and non-complaint with medication and/or drug addictions have been to the local detox center so many times they get put on the "do not admit" list which renders them incapable of holding a job.... right?

Sorry, week 4 of 6 out of psych clerkship and pretty disillusioned with the mental health scene.

i didn't say the cause of it being untreated. those are not the only causes, but they are some of them.

Spirit Hammer: Greylight: A start. If there is a need why not more shelters? Or to save money why not state welfare that pays for accommodations. Homeless living in camps is a shamful display of the communities priorities.

The shelters are pretty under-utilized unless the weather is terrible.
They can't seem to make a shelter without making rules too. Something that most of the homeless I've interacted with are trying to avoid.
"No sitting around smoking"
"No drinking"
"No Drugs"
"No sex.
If the alternative is camping, they choose camping.

And the preaching.  That has always been the first complaint I hear about with shelters.

YixilTesiphon: But that weak episode of DS9 was set in San Francisco.

But it gave us the awesome scene where Sisko cocked a pump shotgun one-handed.