Seattle wants to spend $5M for homeless tent

[IGBT]

$5M for a tent to house as many as 100 homeless people.

That is $50k a year per homeless person for housing.   For a tent.

And you wonder why people hate paying taxes.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to build tiny houses?

Sent from my RS500 using Tapatalk

 

[travelaround]

Or buy them all used vans and install a parking lot with amenities.

 

[mpruet]

Just checked it out.  It's $3M to construct and $2M to maintain.  BUT - it won't be voted on for two more years - so I suspect that it will fall through the cracks.   The reason that they are thinking of a tent is because that's being done in southern California.  Also they want to make sure that it is temporary so they don't want to build anything.  Also there is a concern that buildings would result in gang dens much like the projects of the 1960s did.

 

[John61CT]

The cheapest effective solution is (duh) provide them housing.

https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-isnt-the-problem-with-homelessness-its-all-of-us/

But requires the feds, not a local issue

 

[John61CT]

San Francisco spends $3.1m/year on homeless toilets and $65m/year cleaning up poop https://missionlocal.org/2018/10/san-francisco-needs-a-marshall-plan-for-toilets/

 

[mpruet]

Before I retired, my company tried to encourage me to move to San Jose to work.  I figured that in order for me to have a similar home to what I currently have AND be within a 1/2 hour commute to work, that I'd have to buy a home in the $2M range.  In order to move there and continue to save for retirement, I would have had to live 1-1/2 hours away in the central valley.  If I wanted to live close to work and not pay a lot for a home, I would have had to live in either a mobile home or RV park. 

I ended up staying put. The homeless problem in the bay area is not just about the unemployed - not by a long stretch.  Based on the numbers I've seen the same is true for Seattle and Portland.

 

[lenny flank]

And you wonder why people hate paying taxes.

I don't hate paying taxes. Taxes pay for "civilization", and I *like* civilization.

What I hate is *wasting* taxes.

The "solution" for homeless people seems pretty simple to me---build them houses.

But of course, nobody wants to PAY for that......................................

 

[wayne49]

Sounds like an incubator for bio weapons.
They could wait until Musk goes under and get those tents in Fremont cheap. Or better yet, bus the homeless down to Fremont.

 

[maki2]

It is so easy to misunderstand what is going on in Seattle if you only read headlines and don't follow the situation more closely. Actually there are already tiny homes in city run on city land homeless encampments in Seattle. That has been going on for several years now. There is a program at one of the highschools where they are teaching construction skills and the teaching is done with building Tiny homes that get put into those city run Tiny Home shelters for the homeless.

There are plots of city owned and operated land where they have allowed people in RVs to stay. They even helped fix the RVs that were not running or for other persons they provided a free tow to get the RV to that city property. They are not intended to be permanent locations, the deliberately limit the time span for a year or two for each location to lesson the impact on the local neighborhood. Then the city closes that site and opens a replacement site in a nearby area. But the city found that running the RV sites was considerably more expensive per person than running the sites with tents and tiny houses so they are going to stop doing those types of sites.

Part of the operating cost includes the salaries for professional counselors who go to the sites to work with the tenants to get them into better living conditions. Another part of the cost is that the city brings to the site on a regular schedule free mobile medical clinics. They also bring in portable toilets, potable water and waste disposal. The tents are not directly on the ground, the city and volunteers build wood platforms for the tents. The tents are provided by the city, not by the tenants. There are also sleeping bags and blankets available. There is a common shelter area for cooking activities. The persons staying at the camp are required to put in some hours of time in the guard shack at the entrance or in other essential duties within the community. Local groups have provided some solar charging stations for each of the tents and also the tiny houses.

It is by no means a permanent or ideal solution to the problem of sheltering and feeding and providing other essentials for those who become homeless but at least there is something going on to help out. The city has made the showering facilities at all the city operated community centers free of cost specifically to help the homeless population. There are also several urban "rest stops" where homeless persons can shower and do their laundry at no cost. Remember that Seattle does allow people to sleep/live in their vehicles unlike many cities where it is illegal to do so. Residential neighborhoods do a have a width limit on overnight parking on the street, no more than 80" wide.

 

[John61CT]

I don't think anyone's saying Seattle isn't more compassionate than many/most US cities.

Problem is how low a bar that is.

But I think spending that amount on a stopgap for just 100 people is neither efficient nor effective.

Especially since it could provide actual permanent housing for more than that.

 

[maki2]

I forgot to mention that at this time October, 2018 the city of Seattle currently has 10 different Tiny Home encampment sites in operation for the homeless population. I do not know the total number of tiny houses the sites contain but new tiny homes will get added where there is more room on the plot of land. I know that one of the sites is scheduled to close in the spring of 2019 but one new site just opened in October 2018. They come and they go.

 

[johnny b]

Sounds like a good use for Conex boxes:



Still 'temporary', but beats the heck out of a tent! :idea:

 

[John61CT]

Potential hazmat issues, floors may need replacing, spray insulation.

But yes, great cheap raw materials, easy to relocate.

 

[johnny b]

Pretty big budget for 100 boxes...can replace the pesticide treated floors or seal them with epoxy paint.
Not sure what you mean about the spray insulation. (only a refrigerated box would have insulation)
I would insulate the exterior & glue painted 3/8" OSB for interior walls...don't want to use up the already limited width inside.
While spraying the outside would be a good way to go...exterior 'insulated cladding' is another option.
Wouldn't need to be stacked apartment style either, depending on space available.

In DC its tough to get the homeless into the group shelters, even in winter. The steam grates were preferred, so the city spent thousands erecting elevated screening to deter them...now we have little Quonset hut grates with folks sitting on top...like Snoopy on his doghouse. Good job DC!

At least a conex box would give some semblance of individual space with privacy and security (compared to a big group tent).

 

[Moxadox]

San Francisco spends $3.1m/year on homeless toilets and $65m/year cleaning up poop https://missionlocal.org/2018/10/san-francisco-needs-a-marshall-plan-for-toilets/

Toilets....such a brilliant idea! Now, who'd a thunk that....[emoji57]

The Dire Wolfess

 

[QinReno]

For the life of me, what I don't understand is that, the gommits give $1-trillion to the poor in handouts every year, and have given a total of $25-T over the past 50 years, and the problems seem worse today than ever. If you divide $1-trillion by 40-million poor in this country, that comes out to $25,000 a head every year. Something is just plain wrong.

 

[Moxadox]

I forgot to mention that at this time October, 2018 the city of Seattle currently has 10 different Tiny Home encampment sites in operation for the homeless population. I do not know the total number of tiny houses the sites contain but new tiny homes will get added where there is more room on the plot of land. I know that one of the sites is scheduled to close in the spring of 2019 but one new site just opened in October 2018. They come and they go.

I am so glad to hear this. When I lived in Seattle 2005-2007, the homeless situation was really awful. The tent encampments downtown and on the lawns of the Courthouse were full of disease. I used to cook at the Rescue Mission and other places, and the condition of those who came to eat just broke my heart. It's so easy to point a finger, but life does happen, and I always remember to remember that "there but for the Grace go I." Anyone who believes that they could never end up homeless is kidding themselves. Yes, the best of all possible worlds would be to have everyone in permanent housing, but realistically, the Coasts are so expensive that unless the bottom falls out of this false economy, there is no way to actually create permanent dwellings for thousands of individuals. At least Seattle is making a good sincere effort, even if it's because the city finally caved to the embarrassment of shoulder to shoulder bodies sleeping on the Courthouse lawn in the rain.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[Moxadox]

For the life of me, what I don't understand is that, the gommits give $1-trillion to the poor in handouts every year, and have given a total of $25-T over the past 50 years, and the problems seem worse today than ever. If you divide $1-trillion by 40-million poor in this country, that comes out to $25,000 a head every year. Something is just plain wrong.

I believe most of that goes to administrative costs. Very little actually trickles down into the outstretched hands of the poor.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[QinReno]

I believe most of that goes to administrative costs.  Very little actually trickles down into the outstretched hands of the poor.

$1-T a lot for administrative costs! What's wrong is much more than just plain old graft.