“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

The remedies we need to try.

I was in the midst of another cancer scare. Imaging tests were ordered, and then blood tests. No cancer – Yay! – but the blood tests revealed that I needed to increase the dosage of a medication for an unrelated chronic illness. Wednesday, March 23, 2022, was gray and drizzly. I don’t like to leave the apartment anywhere near sunset, but this medicine was important. I said the prayer I always say before opening my door. “God be with me as I walk. Saint Joseph protect my home. Saint Christopher protect my steps.” I set out for the CVS, three miles and two towns distant. Thanks to Google maps, I know I walk up 430 feet to arrive at the CVS in Wayne. There are pharmacies five minutes’ walk from my apartment, and, like my apartment, these nearby pharmacies are more or less at sea level. I walk so far and so high because I live in Paterson, NJ. It’s not just that a good part of the population speaks Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, or what is now called African American Vernacular English, and used to be called Ebonics. It’s not just because I am white and my first language is English, so I am a target for hostility and petty sabotage. I don’t want my prescriptions to meet the same fate as my vandalized, spat upon, and disappearing postal mail. I walk two towns away because even simple things that should work easily often don’t work in Paterson at all. More on that, later.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Makeshift shelters abut busy roadways, tent cities line sidewalks, tarps cover broken-down cars, and sleeping bags are tucked in storefront doorways. The reality of the homelessness crisis in Oregon’s largest city can’t be denied.

“I would be an idiot to sit here and tell you that things are better today than they were five years ago with regard to homelessness,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said recently. “People in this city aren’t stupid. They can open their eyes.”

Referring to feral street people as “our unhoused neighbors” or “a person experiencing homelessness” is an attack on reality. In fact, they are mentally ill—schizophrenics, drug addicts, and alcoholics, usually in combination.

Because I don’t need to teach my kids about the Faces of Meth yet, we call the ghouls standing next to every freeway exit “hobos.” As in, “Don’t look over there, kids! That hobo forgot to put on pants today.”

Instead, Newsom makes the typical progressive move: throwing more money at the problem.

“We can end homelessness in the State of California,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Monday. It’s a goal Newsom shares with President Joe Biden, despite Democrats’ inability to curb homelessness by throwing money at it.

Their solution? Throw more money at it.

“I don’t think that homelessness can be solved; I know homelessness can be solved,” Newsom also offered as he boasted that California would spend $5.8 billion to add 42,000 new housing units.

Councillors call on Mayor to end ‘extreme show of force’ in encampment clearings

TORONTO — Five Toronto councillors urged the city’s mayor on Friday to end what they called an “extreme show of force” during the clearing of homeless encampments.

Tory seldom does much right, let’s hope he stays the course.

Last weekend, the New York Times Magazine ran an article on homelessness in Los Angeles. The article framed the problem of street vagrancy as almost entirely a result of insufficient housing. “The state needs to create 1.2 million more homes for low-income residents and those experiencing homelessness—which would cost roughly $17.9 billion annually,” the author, Jaime Lowe, reports. California needs to be smarter about building houses and apartments, but the facts Lowe uncovers don’t point to new housing as a solution to street homelessness.

Police and activists clashed on Wednesday while a homeless encampment was cleared out of a downtown park.

After spending the morning urging between 14 and 17 holdouts occupying a portion of Lamport Stadium Park, near King and Dufferin Sts., the city made good on its promise to enforce trespass notices issued last month.

These appear to be “activist” lead altercations. For once Tory has done the right thing, thank goodness for internal polling.

Video moments ago as Toronto Police move in and begin arresting those inside the homeless encampment at Lamport Stadium @CityNews pic.twitter.com/RLm3yMlK9w

— Mark McAllister (@McAllister_Mark) July 21, 2021

Every solid blue city has its horrors — from murders in Chicago, to organized thievery in San Francisco.

In San Diego, where I live, the problem is homeless attacks. Seems the homeless aren’t just unsightly, unsanitary, or famous spreaders of disease, they’re dangerous, and when you have a lot of them, you have a lot of unprovoked random assaults on law-abiding residents. The problem is out there, and too bad for those who don’t like it. San Diego’s new leftist mayor, Todd Gloria, is de facto advising the victims that he’s going to create more of it.

Sunny Sharma wants to stay in Vancouver. But he fears he and his wife, Shilpi, may have to move outside B.C. some day to own their own home.

In the almost two years since Sunny and Shilpi moved from Delhi and became permanent residents through Canada’s express-entry program, they have been patching together beginner-level jobs in technology while running a small business. That way they can continue to rent a 500-square-foot apartment in Vancouver’s West End.

A perfect segue. Seriously I could live in a Van like this.

Not sure if  “Canadian” year round living is possible in this new van from Storyteller, it’s built on the Ford AWD Transit. They use sheep’s wool insulation but the grey water tank is exterior mounted and likely will freeze in the Great White North necessitating a rework, it’s certainly winter capable based on what I know of it’s Mercedes counterpart, but if the exterior tank is rated only to -1 Fahrenheit (-18 C)  then that won’t cut it.

It has the electrical power to do it however as they employ a Volta power system so running an air conditioner for 8 hours is possible. Solar is almost an afterthought as you can Boondock for days with the Volta and still keep your fridge running with plenty of power to spare for using your induction cooktop etc. The batteries can be charged via the high powered alternator they supply but lack the option to charge on “idle” like the competing system from Lithionics which is overall a better bet IMHO as it’s expandable and overall less proprietary.

I see they are listing a gas heater system, likely something like this from Heatso. Storyteller has built exclusively on the Mercedes Sprinter platform till now but people are shy of the Mercedes’ scant repair centres and maintenance costs and apparently highway diesel fuel is harder to find outside NA. By many accounts the Transit is a nicer ride especially after the Sumo shock installation though the Sprinter has dominated the High End Class B van space.

The on board “Halo” shower is different and seems workable though frankly I prefer the privacy of an enclosed shower/bathroom space. It comes with a recirculating hot water system which  I am assuming allows you to “recycle” the same 3 to 5 gallons of water by cleaning it via filters allowing you an unlimited shower. Recirculating showers seem to be the future and system’s like the Volta can handle the power requirement without problem and most importantly they save you a lot of water. Water is always at a premium and also weighs a great deal so tradeoffs are necessary, a recirculating shower is a good solution.

Earlier this week, Toronto Police Services cleared out a homeless encampment that had been a blight on Trinity Bellwoods Park, one of the city’s most popular public spaces. Approximately two dozen camp dwellers were evicted, at least half of whom were resettled into municipal shelters and city-paid hotel rooms. This was a victory for community safety, and hopefully heralds the clearance of other encampments that have similarly undermined public well-being.

Many Americans think that homelessness is a problem confined to coastal states, but the issue is becoming prominent in Texas as well. Since 2017, the number of people in the state living outside—the “unsheltered homeless”—has increased by 50 percent. About 10,500 Texans now live, and all too often die, on the streets. One reason why: many Texas cities have condoned, or even encouraged, street camping and sleeping.

LOS ANGELES—World-renowned Venice Beach has long been a place where visitors, residents, and business owners commingled with artists, musicians, and entertainers from all over the country. Over 10 million tourists visit the beach’s famous boardwalk each year, drawn in by the ocean view and the unconventional lifestyle of the city’s eccentric community.

Venice Beach has its own twitter account documenting the decay.

Venice Beach Boardwalk – Sunday June 6, 2021 12:35pm – An elderly performer is assaulted in yet another random attack. The attacker was seen afterwards entering one of the tents that line the boardwalk and is currently still at large. pic.twitter.com/ibmYANs4Jv

— Venice Beach Boardwalk (@BoardwalkVenice) June 6, 2021