“This is a heartlessness toward people who are less fortunate and, usually because of economic reasons, have been forced to live on the streets.”
That’s really the angle they want to play? Economic reasons are to blame, and it has nothing to do with the drug addiction, criminal record, or mental illness?
“We clearly have a huge homeless population in Seattle because housing is determined not by use but by value”
Yes, this isn’t communist Russia where the government decides who lives where. Whoever pays the market purchase price or rent gets to live in housing.
“he most expensive cities in the US for single-family homes are now San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle (in that order), and with good reason: these are tech cities with corporations whose shares are also spectacularly overvalued.”
Why should any of us trust the author’s opinion on this?
“because we have no policy that makes housing even vaguely a right”
Seattle shelters are actually very underutilized. People prefer to be homeless instead of abide by the rules to stay on a shelter. They reported shelters at 50% full for years, and once people questioned why more shelters are needed they suddenly became 90% full through “better data”.
This study says the total spend of government and non-profits is $1B/yr. That’s well over $100k/yr for each homeless person. We’re supposedly to believe lack of spending is the issue?