Columbia SC to ban homeless from downtown

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Alright forumites, if you look like you might be homeless, best stay away -

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http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2013/08/being-homeless-downtown-columbia-south-carolina-officially-against-law/6649/

[greenforest32]

It's just the latest city: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/20/2496741/columbia-criminalize-homeless/

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It's like if you're unable to pay rent, you might as well not exist because any empty room being used to house the homeless is a wasted opportunity to profit by renting out space at market rates.

There's not enough funding being put into public housing programs to cover all those eligible and yet this is the "solution" cities come up with? Is there no middle ground they can come up with between homeless on the streets and homeless people paying thousands of dollars a year they don't have in rent?

It's pretty pathetic how housing is treated compared to food and healthcare.

[Indy Texas]

That's what happens when you close all the public mental hospitals and leave the patients to fend for themselves, as we did in the '80s. They called it "community-based care" when what it was really "These people aren't worth spending money on."

[barfbag]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Awful. Can't wait to hear the "small government conservatives" in the area defend this.

[Indy Texas]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

[barfbag]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

As someone who lives in LA, I can assure you: Property values in Santa Monica are doing juuuuuuuuuust fine.

[Cory]

It's like people expect homeless people to just "go away" without addressing the root causes of homelessness.

[Indy Texas]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

So you're advocating the forcible seizure of private (bank-owned) property to be used for homeless shelters? A real conservative idea, that.

And what exactly is your conception of a "poor house"? We're not living in 19th century England.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Columbia should have learned from Nevada -- just put them all on a bus; destination San Francisco.

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http://rt.com/usa/nevada-releasing-mental-patients-812/

[barfbag]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

So you're advocating the forcible seizure of private (bank-owned) property to be used for homeless shelters? A real conservative idea, that.

And what exactly is your conception of a "poor house"? We're not living in 19th century England.

basically a homeless shelter and I know this isn't 19th century England was there something wrong with how I said it?

[memphis]

We've done the same here. Memphis has gone to great lengths and expense to make downtown viable and tourist friendly after decades of neglect. The homeless were a hurdle to that vision. Unfortunately, they've now set up shop closer to where I live

[barfbag]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

As someone who lives in LA, I can assure you: Property values in Santa Monica are doing juuuuuuuuuust fine.

They still brought a lot of homeless people to their town which drove people away. There were so many homeless people that no one knew who did and didn't have a home. Before you know it those you live with could be homeless.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Giuliani was quite successful in doing this.....

[Torie]

Columbia should have learned from Nevada -- just put them all on a bus; destination San Francisco.

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http://rt.com/usa/nevada-releasing-mental-patients-812/

By what authority could Nevada force homeless people on a bus to Frisco? If the homeless got on the bus voluntarily, I don't see a violation, unless there is some arcane law about patient dumping. But were all the homeless on the bus "patients?" Yes, per the article, it appears that they were. So the case is about transporting out patients in a mental hospital, and not about transporting homeless who are on the street. And if in a mental hospital, presumably those persons were not homeless.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

As someone who lives in LA, I can assure you: Property values in Santa Monica are doing juuuuuuuuuust fine.

They still brought a lot of homeless people to their town which drove people away. There were so many homeless people that no one knew who did and didn't have a home. Before you know it those you live with could be homeless.

You've never been to Santa Monica, have you?

[Torie]

Well I found one house that sold for 358K next to the freeway on a busy street in Santa Monica. In general, houses in least chic parts of SM go for 500K to 1 million, middling areas from 1 million to 2 million, and the most chic over 2 million (north of Montana mostly, which when I was a kid, was the only upper middle class area of Santa Monica).  My parents looked at some houses there on the ultimate chic street, La Mesa Drive north of San Vicente, back then, but the two houses they saw backed up against San Vicente, so no dice. The SM school district at that time was also viewed as marginal, which was another issue. How times have changed. To get into the La Mesa zone costs you from 3 million to 7 million now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's only a matter of time before some local authority somewhere decides that the final solution to the homeless problem is to concentrate them into camps.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Well now wait a minute. This could push visitors away and kill their economy if the homeless are allowed to just wonder instead of going to homeless shelters or poor houses. We could turn foreclosed homes into such places.

If you don't like homeless people wandering around your city, then do something to make them not homeless anymore. But you don't have a right to simply remove them from the city.

I agree and think we should be turning foreclosed homes into poor houses and homeless shelters. It's a delicate issue. Santa Monaca made themselves proud to help the homeless and eventually had so many of them that their home values plummeted and people couldn't go a week without being asked for money. Something moderate and non-partisan must be done. I think banks would straighten up with their risky lending if we turned foreclosed homes into homeless shelters.

As someone who lives in LA, I can assure you: Property values in Santa Monica are doing juuuuuuuuuust fine.

They still brought a lot of homeless people to their town which drove people away. There were so many homeless people that no one knew who did and didn't have a home. Before you know it those you live with could be homeless.

You've never been to Santa Monica, have you?

He was riffing off of South Park with that last one.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Columbia should have learned from Nevada -- just put them all on a bus; destination San Francisco.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://rt.com/usa/nevada-releasing-mental-patients-812/

By what authority could Nevada force homeless people on a bus to Frisco? If the homeless got on the bus voluntarily, I don't see a violation, unless there is some arcane law about patient dumping. But were all the homeless on the bus "patients?" Yes, per the article, it appears that they were. So the case is about transporting out patients in a mental hospital, and not about transporting homeless who are on the street. And if in a mental hospital, presumably those persons were not homeless.

Nevada has a very specific problem with the homeless: If you leave them out on the street in 120-degree weather, they're going to die. I would imagine they're rotated in and out of psychiatric hospitals (and other holding locations) out of necessity for their health and safety.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

It's only a matter of time before some local authority somewhere decides that the final solution to the homeless problem is to concentrate them into camps.

That has happened here, actually. Sex offenders who are homeless in Miami are forced to live in a shanty town under an interstate bridge.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2013/08/city-council-columbia-south-carolina-isnt-sure-if-it-voted-kick-homeless-people-out-downtown-or-not/6709/

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[badgate]

It's only a matter of time before some local authority somewhere decides that the final solution to the homeless problem is to concentrate them into camps.

That has happened here, actually. Sex offenders who are homeless in Miami are forced to live in a shanty town under an interstate bridge.

How has Dexter not informed me of this already?