given this article and the commentary the events in the enws our feckless and at time self serving leaders in government - we are becoming the worst of a society we once were in the Grapes of Wrath and David Copperfield....
albeit with always on cellphones, 50 inch TV screens and 1984 surveillance ......
But, but, but....the economy is doing so great! The best economy in years thanks to the divinely sent Individual-1, as the Christian Evangelicals tell us. And the stock market is soaring!!!!..... Once again, thank the NYT for revealing the truth.
23
Finland's homeless population has drastically decreased, unlike here in the U.S. and in the UK, France, Germany (all which have much larger economies). HOW? By providing safe, clean housing FIRST--the person doesn't have to give up any of his/her addictions. It's working and people are becoming clean and sober.
14
@Ruth maybe they should give up addictions, wouldn't that just be sensible and healthy?
1
@nanncydrew of course. But they are addicts. Afdicts are not healthy or sensible. Housing first also worked in new Orleans. They did this for homeless va population and were successful. We need to do what works best not what seems right.
1
I am retired and for now, doing fine financially. But I realize that if I suffer a downturn, adjustments will have to be made. There are large areas in this country losing population with housing available at unheard of low prices, compared to California or other prosperous areas.
If it came to being homeless in California versus under a roof in Nebraska, I would move.
2
@RM
Yes, a house costing $750,000, costs around $215,000 in Omaha, NE.
3
Move somewhere else than LA. The are jobs begging in rural America, paying unskilled labor $15-$21/hr and housing is affordable. Just read some other articles in today's Times!
4
a lot of people just need birth control
4
What a sick, sick society we have that a family with an autistic pre-schooler -- or anyone -- has to sleep/live in their car AND that we are now outlawing even that and/or adding to their terrible burdens by relegating them to unsafe and likely contaminated locations around warehouses or to spots hours away from their jobs, schools, trusted healthcare and social services providers.
And for those of you who say it's just a matter of choices made, I agree: it's the choice of landlords and others to place their own desire for fancy things (ie their greed) above common decency.
You may want to live in a feudal, and pre-rigged sink-or-swim state in which the landowners and very rich float along on the corpses of others, but the rest of us do not. Your vision is NOT the American vision. Nor the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or any other true spirituality's vision. Nor, even, a sustainable vision in the long run. Think about it.
16
@Person thank you!! I was losing my faith in humanity!!
2
If you're both lucky and unlucky enough to live in your car in California perhaps it's time you avail yourself of an interstate highway and find a state that is less populated, less expensive and less competitive. PLEASE.
5
We used to have subsided housing programs. It was called The Great Society. Then the Republicans decided that people were irrelevant if they weren’t reasonably rich. Now the irrelevant live on the streets.
18
@Balynt
Or in homes in more affordable locals.
2
The reporter and assigned photog should call back the Courghrans to let them know that keeping a gas grill on their porch is a sure way to become homeless again or worse.
This elemental bit of common sense eludes many.
9
@Age of Reason If that is an enclosed porch, then that grill could be a death sentence from carbon monoxide poisoning.
1
@Age of Reason even after it cools? We use ours on the driveway then after its cold wheel it in. They probably do same. They arent using it there exactly.