Homeless Encampments on School Grounds

[RamblingMad]

The problem is homelessness. The best solution is to throw tax dollars at that problem, not ignore it. It's not going to magically go away.

 

[JLTraveling]

Wow, the absolute callousness of some people here is astounding. Scared to drive past a homeless encampment? They deserve mass incarceration? You do realize we're talking about actual human beings, right? The homelessness problem is terrible, and it's largely not the fault of the people who are in that position. Pop quiz: How many of you were aware that quite a few Disney employees are homeless? May I suggest watching The Florida Project?

 

[RamblingMad]

Wow, the absolute callousness of some people here is astounding. Scared to drive past a homeless encampment? They deserve mass incarceration? You do realize we're talking about actual human beings, right? The homelessness problem is terrible, and it's largely not the fault of the people who are in that position. Pop quiz: How many of you were aware that quite a few Disney employees are homeless? May I suggest watching The Florida Project?

When they find themselves without an adequate retirement and living in a van, they might think differently. Check out Nomadland on HULU.

 

[JLTraveling]

When they find themselves without an adequate retirement and living in a van, they might think differently. Check out Nomadland on HULU.

I have not watched it yet, but it's at the top of my list. There was also a series of articles in the Orlando Sentinel a year or two back documenting the situation regarding theme park workers. It's more complex than a lot of people want to admit.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Wow, the absolute callousness of some people here is astounding. Scared to drive past a homeless encampment? They deserve mass incarceration? You do realize we're talking about actual human beings, right?

Children should be scared to walk to school while people are going to the bathroom around them and throwing their needles.

And call me callous, but there are two spots in my city that I will never drive by again. Walking Dead type people banging on your car window with your kids inside is quite terrifying.

 

[RamblingMad]

I have not watched it yet, but it's at the top of my list. There was also a series of articles in the Orlando Sentinel a year or two back documenting the situation regarding theme park workers. It's more complex than a lot of people want to admit.

I don't think theme park workers are adequately paid. And I have no idea where this push for $15/hr came from since that's still not adequate.

 

[JLTraveling]

Children should be scared to walk to school while people are going to the bathroom around them and throwing their needles.

And call me callous, but there are two spots in my city that I will never drive by again. Walking Dead type people banging on your car window with your kids inside is quite terrifying.

Except, you know, not so much. Big fat fantasy made up by the powers that be to justify treating them like animals. And come on, "Walking Dead type people"? You have zombies in your city? Cool!

 

[Pink Partridge]

You have zombies in your city? Cool!

In two sections of our city, we have people that are so hopped up on drugs that they will wander into the street. They remind me exactly of zombies. Pounding on windows for money. I am so happy for you that you live in a bubble and have never experienced this. But just because you have never seen it, doesn't mean it is a fantasy.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Except, you know, not so much. Big fat fantasy made up by the powers that be to justify treating them like animals.

Did you watch the video that two previous posters have provided?

 

[MillauFr]

I also wonder if the schools in question serve mostly poor and/or minority students. We should care as much about those students as those in the affluent areas. This would never be allowed in Mercer Island or Bellevue.

Ditto in NE Seattle. This is not allowed. In SE Seattle where the lower income residents live? Absolutely this is tolerated.

 

[RamblingMad]

Except, you know, not so much. Big fat fantasy made up by the powers that be to justify treating them like animals. And come on, "Walking Dead type people"? You have zombies in your city? Cool!

I grew up in a rough neighborhood. It provided plenty of motivation to do well in school.

Given that the economy looks more and more like monopoly, more and more people will live less great lifestyles. It's why we're seeing more and more tent cities.

And can you even follow most of the ridiculous financial advice given? I heard once that you shouldn't pay more than 3x your salary for a home. Where I live the median household income is $60k, but the average home is $450k. And apartments are not a whole lot cheaper when you look at rents to home prices. Where are people supposed to live when there isn't any affordable housing?

 

[Pink Partridge]

Ditto in NE Seattle. This is not allowed. In SE Seattle where the lower income residents live? Absolutely this is tolerated.

So sad for those children.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

A sweep is more than a forced move. It is a police presence forcing the people out of the park/encampment, usually without advance notice, followed by a clean up that involves throwing out everything that the people there couldn't gather up fast enough and carry when being herded out. Sweeps strip the homeless of their few possessions, particularly of tents, tarps, sleeping mats, and whatever other makeshift shelter they might have set up, while doing nothing to solve the actual problem of homelessness. They're just left to start over, still homeless and now homeless with nothing but the clothes on their backs. I can completely understand why the school board would want to see more humane means used to relocate the homeless people living in that camp.

In a nutshell that's exactly the current battle going on in my metro, primarily in the KCMO part. Sweeps are generally condemned because of how they occur and what they don't actually solve. It doesn't help that in KCMO they've been told that a camp here or a camp there won't be swept and then it is. It's a serious battle here between consideration towards the plights of people along side safety concerns and a flash point with the city and the police department. In the 'burbs it's more "not in my backyard" that takes over but in KCMO it's slightly different.

 

[MillauFr]

This is a longstanding problem in Seattle, and in some other cities as well. It's also a big problem in San Francisco.

This is the best I've seen on the subject -- "Seattle is Dying" by one of their local TV stations. It's an hour long, and it's hard to watch, but it's pretty even-handed and has some hopeful info on programs that actually do WORK toward the end.

That TV segment is complete nonsense. People from the rest of the country watch that and think that homelessness is the biggest problem in Seattle. It actually doesn't even make the top ten. The biggest problem here is the explosion of millionaires and billionaires moving in making it completely unaffordable for middle income residents. You have new college students making $100k+ right out of college moving here by the thousands. You have property zoned for residential use selling for $40m - $50 million an acre. You have single family houses getting torn down and replaced by 25 story condo buildings where the cheapest units are selling for $1 million.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Not playing "word games", ha, ha!! I literally wrote what the article stated!! The school board wants the camp gone, but doesnt want a "sweep"


As for "word games" the above comment qualifies!! "School board members don't want the encampments removed"........uh, NO where in the article did it say that the school board members don't want it removed. They want it removed, they have reached out for help to have it removed. They have requested a way in which they want it removed!

I totally agree that the camp needs to be removed! Just felt it was disingenuous to state that the "school board members don't want the encampments removed". From what I read in the first article, they do want it removed!

But by all means, carry on!!

Only on the Dis can you literally write what the article quoted stated and be accused of playing word games.

 

[MillauFr]

So sad for those children.

Agreed. The lower income residents are getting the hint and moving out in droves. Most of them headed for the suburbs where housing is far cheaper. Seattle is one of the few places in the country where the old inner city low income neighborhoods are filled with million dollar condos. It is a huge problem.

 

[JimMIA]

"Sweeps" by police do nothing but pin the donkeytail on the police.

So you "sweep" -- OK, now what's your plan?

Moving "marginalized" people from one place to another does absolutely nothing to help them, or to alleviate the problem.

 

[JLTraveling]

In two sections of our city, we have people that are so hopped up on drugs that they will wander into the street. They remind me exactly of zombies. Pounding on windows for money. I am so happy for you that you live in a bubble and have never experienced this. But just because you have never seen it, doesn't mean it is a fantasy.

Um, did you miss the part where I said some of my best friends are/were homeless? There's a massive encampment under the bridge a couple of blocks from my place. I WALK, not just DRIVE, by it all the time. I guess I do live in a bubble....a bubble of "let's befriend these HUMAN BEINGS and see how we can help them" rather than your paranoia. Guess what? They're just people, who have fallen into bad circumstances. Hope it never happens to you.

 

[JimMIA]

That TV segment is complete nonsense. People from the rest of the country watch that and think that homelessness is the biggest problem in Seattle. It actually doesn't even make the top ten. The biggest problem here is the explosion of millionaires and billionaires moving in making it completely unaffordable for middle income residents. You have new college students making $100k+ right out of college moving here by the thousands. You have property zoned for residential use selling for $40m - $50 million an acre. You have single family houses getting torn down and replaced by 25 story condo buildings where the cheapest units are selling for $1 million.

Nobody said it was Seattle's biggest problem -- although probably not everyone would agree that gentrification was the end of the world either. Skyrocketing urban property values are hardly unique to Seattle.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I wanted to share a story from my metro. The story is from late fall/early winter. There are issues with homeless people, there are issues with shelters and what kind they are, where they are located at and not every person one encounters makes you sympathetic to their cause. But this story reminded me to keep in humanity in mind. It reminded me to think about people when there are those arguing over whether the homeless deserve priority in vaccinations and just who they are. And to be clear I live in a place that exudes to many the "not in my backyard mentality" but there are people who still warm your heart with their actions.

Make of the story of you will. And I don't share this to excuse camps, it's just to reflect the perception the public largely has on those on the streets.