Anonymous wrote:There is plenty of cheap land to be had near the MD/PA border, in southern MD and near Prince William County. Build clean, safe, spacious housing for the homeless there & have them live there only. Bus them to & from DC.

Have you been to Paris? Do you want a city with high rise ghettos ringing an inner core?

Stop offering the homeless services, and you’ll stop attracting them. Also, give them bus tickets to southern cities.

Anonymous wrote:They try this in Paris and rio. They end up as suburban slums.

Now we have urban slums. Why is that better?

Because activism on behalf of the unhoused is part of a constellation of left-wing advocacy, and the activists only want the problem solved in ways that involve fundamental transformation of the economy and society in alignment with their views. (It’s the same reason climate change advocates hate nuclear power.). Until that great day comes, the activists would rather have the homeless causing great disruption for normal people to keep up the pressure for change. None of this is any secret.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It would be much more efficient to provide services to the homeless if they’re housed in one place.

They aren't children or prisoners. Many homeless (and adults in general) do not want others telling them what to do and where to go. Many are not looking for services or housing. They prefer to exist day to day.

Police should have an iron-fist approach

This won’t be necessary if it’s actually such a nice and lovely place with space and services.

Which, by the way, Salt Lake City has already tried the method of simply giving housing to the unhoused. It was remarkably successful. Of course it wasn’t a good solution for everyone, but it was massively successful for the large percent of people who truly do just need housing.

DC cannot ship out the homeless. Better to build mental health services.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That would require MD or VA to pay for DC’s homeless so that won’t happen as the states have plenty of their own too. Also how are you going to force them to go there? Many are from the city and it’s home to them. Where will they get their hooch and drugs? I don’t think it’s as simple as shoving them away. There is a huge system that needs fixing so we don’t have so many homeless people.

It could be done on a surplus federal military installation. Give the homeless a choice. Be arrested for camping on federal parkland in DC OR move to a federal installation where there will be provided with construction job skills and counseling. It should be piloted.

Ok. So more like an internment or work camp.

No. A jail diversion program where they could learn a life skill and/or get treatment.

Or, we could continue to fill the apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue with them at $3000/month indefinitely.

From someone who volunteers with DC's downtown homeless-- probably over 65% of the people we serve are struggling with some form of mental illness. Homelessness at its core is the result of Reagan's deinstitutionalization policies of the early 1980s. Cities have been paying the price ever since.

Certainly it should be illegal to crap on the streets. But I would also loosen restrictions so more and cheaper housing can be built in the cities, where people want to live. But some people with severe mental illness do belong in institutions. It was a mistake to close them all down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It would be much more efficient to provide services to the homeless if they’re housed in one place.

They aren't children or prisoners. Many homeless (and adults in general) do not want others telling them what to do and where to go. Many are not looking for services or housing. They prefer to exist day to day.

Police should have an iron-fist approach

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It would be much more efficient to provide services to the homeless if they’re housed in one place.

They aren't children or prisoners. Many homeless (and adults in general) do not want others telling them what to do and where to go. Many are not looking for services or housing. They prefer to exist day to day.

Anonymous wrote:So how would they find job/rehabilitation while they’re out there in the middle of nowhere?

Employees would live on-site & security would be strong. On-site medical & addiction services. Busing back and forth to DC for additional resources.

Who are they going to beg from then?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That would require MD or VA to pay for DC’s homeless so that won’t happen as the states have plenty of their own too. Also how are you going to force them to go there? Many are from the city and it’s home to them. Where will they get their hooch and drugs? I don’t think it’s as simple as shoving them away. There is a huge system that needs fixing so we don’t have so many homeless people.

It could be done on a surplus federal military installation. Give the homeless a choice. Be arrested for camping on federal parkland in DC OR move to a federal installation where there will be provided with construction job skills and counseling. It should be piloted.

Ok. So more like an internment or work camp.

Anonymous wrote:Well the District will have to find a place in the District. I’ve heard that the shelters are so dangerous that the homeless don’t want to go there. They’d rather sleep in the streets.

Why is that conundrum necessary when you could build shelters with large, locking private rooms 90 minutes bus ride away?