What is with all the homeless tents in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chronic homelessness is one of the most intractable problems cities have to deal with. The pandemic and economic disruptions have made it worse in recent years. I don't understand how people like OP are seemingly just discovering this problem and somehow think it's easy to solve.

Or support the GOP who cuts money from these services in every budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were a bunch of tents and homeless people by Union Station pre-shutdown as well. It seems to be an ongoing issue. The only answer I see is more mental health support, affordable housing, and shelters.

We need institutions and asylums. With actual oversight.

And we need police enforcing basic decency. No defecation on the sidewalk. No accosting other pedestrians for money to buy booze and drugs.

Permanent supportive housing costs less than incarceration for petty infractions, and is much more likely to yield productive citizens.

Nobody said incarcerate them. But police should call them out when they poop on the sidewalk. Intervene when there is booze and drugs in public. And tell them to move along and not block traffic panhandling in the middle of the street during rush hour. Again, basic stuff. Nobody has the right to trash our public space.

What, exactly, do you think police enforcement means? Police should "call them out" by doing what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were a bunch of tents and homeless people by Union Station pre-shutdown as well. It seems to be an ongoing issue. The only answer I see is more mental health support, affordable housing, and shelters.

We need institutions and asylums. With actual oversight.

And we need police enforcing basic decency. No defecation on the sidewalk. No accosting other pedestrians for money to buy booze and drugs.

Permanent supportive housing costs less than incarceration for petty infractions, and is much more likely to yield productive citizens.

Nobody said incarcerate them. But police should call them out when they poop on the sidewalk. Intervene when there is booze and drugs in public. And tell them to move along and not block traffic panhandling in the middle of the street during rush hour. Again, basic stuff. Nobody has the right to trash our public space.

What, exactly, do you think police enforcement means? Police should "call them out" by doing what?

I think PP wants the police to make them move. They have to sleep somewhere, the police kicking them out of one location just means they move to another

[Anonymous]

Mental health holds. The Reagan era decisions were bad ones. We must take care of those who cannot take care of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were a bunch of tents and homeless people by Union Station pre-shutdown as well. It seems to be an ongoing issue. The only answer I see is more mental health support, affordable housing, and shelters.

We need institutions and asylums. With actual oversight.

And we need police enforcing basic decency. No defecation on the sidewalk. No accosting other pedestrians for money to buy booze and drugs.

Permanent supportive housing costs less than incarceration for petty infractions, and is much more likely to yield productive citizens.

Nobody said incarcerate them. But police should call them out when they poop on the sidewalk. Intervene when there is booze and drugs in public. And tell them to move along and not block traffic panhandling in the middle of the street during rush hour. Again, basic stuff. Nobody has the right to trash our public space.

What, exactly, do you think police enforcement means? Police should "call them out" by doing what?

I think PP wants the police to make them move. They have to sleep somewhere, the police kicking them out of one location just means they move to another

No, it means they can move to shelters that are ready to take them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chronic homelessness is one of the most intractable problems cities have to deal with. The pandemic and economic disruptions have made it worse in recent years. I don't understand how people like OP are seemingly just discovering this problem and somehow think it's easy to solve.

Or support the GOP who cuts money from these services in every budget.

Last I what this was a Democrat Party run city

[Anonymous]

I think the problem is that the homeless shelters have had to close or lower their capacity due to COVID. So the police can't clear out the tent cities because there is nowhere for those individuals to go. Pre-pandemic, there were definitely fewer encampments and the city cleared them out every few months.

Honestly, I am pretty liberal and I know this is a complex problem, but I don't think allowing tent cities to flourish is a good option. In LA, they have big semi-permanent tent cities on skid row and in other places, and it's a dangerous place for both passers-by and residents, with crime and outbreaks of cholera and hepatitis from the unsanitary conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need affordable housing, not more luxury condos! But affordable housing is not a popular political topic. BTW, this is not a DC-specific problem. Take a trip to LA or SF and you'll realize that the problem in DC is nothing comparatively.

This is not an affordable housing issue. The people in the tents are there because they have mental health and substance abuse issues. They are unable to take care of themselves let alone a property. These people need institutions to provide for them while they receive I ntensive therapy. It would be very expensive to implement properly so politicians would rather look the other way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD ...

And staying off booze and drugs

And working hard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mental health holds. The Reagan era decisions were bad ones. We must take care of those who cannot take care of themselves.

The only bad decision was Reagan bowing to pressure from the ultra liberal
APA to de institutionalize people who needed institutionalization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mental health holds. The Reagan era decisions were bad ones. We must take care of those who cannot take care of themselves.

The only bad decision was Reagan bowing to pressure from the ultra liberal
APA to de institutionalize people who needed institutionalization.

I’m sorry are you in here with historical context beyond “Mean Republicans?”

Unacceptable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like San Francisco about 20 years ago. I remember being surprised as a tourist to being far outnumbered in certain areas of San Francisco -- easily 10 or more homeless in some places.

If DC residents don't do something about this, homeless will flock to DC.

+100 Cities like SF and DC are magnets for homelessness. In fact, I think they create MORE homelessness by making it easy to be homeless. You don't see half naked, shitting in the street, smelly, drug-adled people taking over in non-ultra liberal cities. The crazy lefties will only offer more and more incentives to be homeless though. It's a death spiral situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were a bunch of tents and homeless people by Union Station pre-shutdown as well. It seems to be an ongoing issue. The only answer I see is more mental health support, affordable housing, and shelters.

We need institutions and asylums. With actual oversight.

This. But will it ever happen, or is genie out of the bottle?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeless camped out in the north side of DuPont circle. Homeless tents in the grass in front of union station. Homeless tents in key downtown parks/squares.

It's embarrassing for DC as as a city and frankly disgusting.

I was in union station yesterday - first time since the pandemic - and was surprised to see so many tents in the circle out front. I had to go to the bathroom before catching a train and almost threw up while squeezing past the awful smelling homeless people going in and out of the bathroom with all their belongings in tow. What the heck kind of city are we living in?? Business people and families need places like union station and public space to be clean, hygienic, and safe.

The tents are simply giving shelter to the unhoused

[Anonymous]

If you were born in DC with birth certificate, I can see applying for a permitted park camp space if that's how you really desire to live (which may need to be created). If you are not from here, sorry. There are cheaper places to live and no special reason to be in DC unemployed and unhoused. We don't want to be your tent city. Or, avail of the shelter options mentioned above