Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

News flash: Labor cost to care for them is a lot cheaper in cow country, too. And how do you think rural people get their food? From stores. From farms. You don't think the homeless could learn a bit of farming? Do you think the charities that take care of the homeless now will just say "huh, I guess there are no more homeless" and just close shop? You have a lot of flaky ideas believing that rural America is some kind of complete vacuum where nothing exists. I grew up in rural America, people can live just fine there.

Is it any different than why they built penitentiaries in rural areas?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a huge problem but also an opportunity for someone to come up with ideas and solutions.

There’s been an idea for years - involuntary commitment

Will you object to a psychiatric institution being built in your neighborhood?

That doesn't make sense you'd build it in somewhere far away and inexpensive or just use a prison

Not in my backyard!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

News flash: Labor cost to care for them is a lot cheaper in cow country, too. And how do you think rural people get their food? From stores. From farms. You don't think the homeless could learn a bit of farming? Do you think the charities that take care of the homeless now will just say "huh, I guess there are no more homeless" and just close shop? You have a lot of flaky ideas believing that rural America is some kind of complete vacuum where nothing exists. I grew up in rural America, people can live just fine there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

Or dump and ignore. Win/win.

Go get punched, fascist.

What do you think is going to happen when the unhoused are at the end of the line on the free 4 AM bus to Silver Spring and are forced to get off. It’s not cow country but there isn’t anything there for them all the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

Or dump and ignore. Win/win.

Go get punched, fascist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

Or dump and ignore. Win/win.

For those you are talking about (who want to and are able to get back on their feet) we should build micro apartments with communal kitchens/cafeterias and bathroom facilities where one can come and go whenever, be registered with an address and apartment number, and feel like it's their private place. Government sponsored housing, but not free housing. To live there one must do some community service to their abilities. Part of it could be cleaning common spaces, working in communal cafeteria. A bunch of jobs in the city, like litter removal, weed removal, etc. Stuff that doesn't require skills or physical stamina should be mandatory at least 2-3 hours a day to receive housing, food, medical care.

Job training should also be offered, as is mental healthcare, drug rehabilitation services, etc. People we are discussing who have fallen on tough times could use this as an opportunity to get a paid job, get an address, access to proper bathroom facilities and showers, donated clean clothing for interviews. The city can save on maintenance and services as able-bodies homeless will be serving themselves and also maybe doing some city works replacing a shortage of volunteers. Labor should not be viewed as a punishment, but as rehabilitation and something to improve one's mental health, give you a sense of self worth which many of the people on skid row might be lacking who want to return to regular workplace.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

Lots of excuses, eh. You make it sound like we have to coddle these people or the world will come to an end.

Jim Jones did it. If you cut them off from the cities, they won't have much of a choice. You either work on the farm or you go hungry.

Well, those times are long over, there will be carloads of lawyers and various advocates and media following the first bus to depart any major city to dump their homeless in the midst of rural land. You would have to give them at least the same arrangements as those given to the illegals that are bused from TX/FL into DC/NYC/Martha's Vineyard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a huge problem but also an opportunity for someone to come up with ideas and solutions.

There’s been an idea for years - involuntary commitment

Will you object to a psychiatric institution being built in your neighborhood?

That doesn't make sense you'd build it in somewhere far away and inexpensive or just use a prison

I don't think you can incarcerate people for just living on the streets. NYC mayor's new thing is to make it mandatory to receive mental health help (e.g. be taken away to some facility if you are considered a threat to yourself or others and unhoused). Not sure how this is going and how long are mentally unstable homeless are kept in the facilities receiving mental healthcare.. Eric Adams is receiving a lot of heat for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

Lots of excuses, eh. You make it sound like we have to coddle these people or the world will come to an end.

Jim Jones did it. If you cut them off from the cities, they won't have much of a choice. You either work on the farm or you go hungry.

Anonymous wrote:This is also a problem when you move countries.

You can't get a bank account without an address but you can't rent a place without a bank account. You need an address for a tax number, a tax number for a bank account, a bank account for an address and so it goes around and around in circles.

If you immigrate legally you are supposed to come under some organization (like refugee organization or a charity organization/church) or be sponsored by someone like your extended family or your employer. They provide you the address and must have a place available for you to live.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a huge problem but also an opportunity for someone to come up with ideas and solutions.

There’s been an idea for years - involuntary commitment

Will you object to a psychiatric institution being built in your neighborhood?

That doesn't make sense you'd build it in somewhere far away and inexpensive or just use a prison

No. Your neighborhood sounds much better. You’re still on board, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

Same reason they are homeless: inertia. Get somewhere, stake out a place, learn who has the best free food, find a drug source, figure out where to pee and poop. Done and dusted.

This

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why DC is such a magnet for the homeless. I suspect red states and red counties round up a lot of their own homeless and dump them on DC as some kind of "statement" the way Abbot does with migrants. But it's stupid, because everything costs so much more in DC - real estate costs, labor costs, etc.

Perhaps a better plan would be for DC to buy land and build facilities in a much affordable community like Charlotte or Hickory NC, or Huntsville or any number of other places, and move them there to care for, and they could do it for a third of the cost of trying to care for the homeless in DC. And, it would make it a lot easier to transition them out to independent living there as well.

We've already heard that many of the homeless don't have family here in DC - and many of them aren't originally from DC. What's to keep them here?

+1
Same thing for the whole idea of "affordable housing." If you want affordable housing, no problem. The bus leaves in 30 minutes and you will arrive in cow country in 1 hour.

Yeah, but who is going to care for them in cow country? Even if there are cabins available with indoor plumbing someone has to pay to maintain this primitive housing in functioning order and pay for utilities. What about food? How will homeless eat? Believe it or not, they get free food in the cities from various charity organizations and from empathetic pedestrians. Even if they are able to cook for themselves where will they get groceries in the rural land without a car and money? What about medical care? Expensive ambulance rides to tiny rural hospitals? Here they can walk into any emergency room and won't be turned down, nothing to collect, so they get free medical care (at least emergency care). Do you see how they can only be served in the city and survive in the city given that they can keep themselves dry and warm? For rural thing to work there has to be a commune with services and also employment opportunities for those able to work (to run some services), and job training for those willing and able.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a huge problem but also an opportunity for someone to come up with ideas and solutions.

There’s been an idea for years - involuntary commitment

Will you object to a psychiatric institution being built in your neighborhood?

That doesn't make sense you'd build it in somewhere far away and inexpensive or just use a prison