Pretty cool solution for homeless people

[werepossum]

Thought this was a cool bit of news.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...ild-pods-microhouses-to-shelter-the-homeless/

Two councilmembers who are running against each other for mayor have jointly written a memo calling on the city to build new neighborhoods for the homeless using shed-sized “microhouses” or “housing pods.”

It’s already worked in a handful of cities, including Grass Valley and Eugene, Oregon.

“We’re looking at trying to identify public spaces, publicly owned land where we can get a lot of microhousing out there,” said Councilmember Sam Liccardo.

Councilmember Rose Herrera, who also supports the plan, said, “It’s far better to be living in a small home that you can call your own than to be living in a creek in unsafe conditions and unsanitary conditions.”

The dwellings can be built for about $5,000. They are typically under 150 square feet, with no running water. Bathrooms and kitchens would be communal

Homeless advocates said they do have advantages. “When you give somebody a key to their own door, their own house, that they can call their own that’s a victory,” said Jenny Niklaus of HomeFirst.

Niklaus said there are 7,000 homeless people in San Jose, and with rising rents and shortages of housing, more are being added every day.

“Right now to afford an apartment in San Jose, you have to make more than $30 an hour. It’s stunning the gap between what people can afford and what is real. For people who are homeless, living on a subsidy, a place like a little home helps overcome those barriers.”

The councilmembers plan to introduce their proposal next week.

Last winter, four homeless people in San Jose died from exposure.

For one thing, it's very cool that two politicians running against each other for mayor would jointly write a memo. For another, it's a very cool solution to housing the homeless. We've often discussed barracks-style living, which I can support. However, this is even better. It's marginally more expensive, assuming land costs aren't prohibitive, but by using communal bathrooms and kitchens additional costs are minimized. By giving someone an actual place where they can go and lock the door, either with themselves inside or with whatever stuff they've managed to hang onto inside while they look for work or simply reconnect with friends and family, a sense of place and personal value can be built. Communal baths and a bit of lockable personal storage allow for the homeless to be presentable for job interviews or apartment interviews or whatever, while communal kitchens allow more latitude in eating than simply cheap fast food. And it retains the centralization benefits for things like job training and mental health aid without imparting an impersonal, institutional or penal overtone. As a side note, it also gives the homeless time to form bonds of friendship and evaluate trustworthiness, important for people who may have job skills which are viable but not to the extent of affording a decent apartment without a roommate.

It will take a lot of policing, but it's definitely worth the effort. Kudos to San Jose.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

How ironic; a city that has a history of shipping its homeless off to Eugene is now borrowing Eugene's strategy for dealing with the homeless... Actually, I suppose that isn't irony, it was just forward-thinking. "Look, we haven't the slightest idea what to do with these people; you figure it out and in a decade or so we'll take the credit for it."

 

[Fanatical Meat]

here is the problem and its more than finding a roof to sleep under. Most homeless people I used to see in Boston are mentally ill and/or alcohol and/or drug addicts. They are not capable of caring for a home or themselves.

 

[werepossum]

How ironic; a city that has a history of shipping its homeless off to Eugene is now borrowing Eugene's strategy for dealing with the homeless... Actually, I suppose that isn't irony, it was just forward-thinking. "Look, we haven't the slightest idea what to do with these people; you figure it out and in a decade or so we'll take the credit for it."

lol Works for me. Better to steal a good idea than to work out one's own bad idea.

here is the problem and its more than finding a roof to sleep under. Most homeless people I used to see in Boston are mentally ill and/or alcohol and/or drug addicts. They are not capable of caring for a home or themselves.

That's true, and it definitely isn't for every homeless person. But for those for whom life just happened to an overwhelming degree, might be a G-dsend.

With that I'm off to a job site. Please be gentle with my thread.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

here is the problem and its more than finding a roof to sleep under. Most homeless people I used to see in Boston are mentally ill and/or alcohol and/or drug addicts. They are not capable of caring for a home or themselves.

Well yeah, but that's Boston. Homeless people in San Jose are probably all app developers and serial entrepreneurs who are just too busy to find a house.

 

[MongGrel]

Might as well just provide a large amount of space and put up some old MASH type tents if you're going to there IMHO, the military has been doing it for years.

A good tent would be better than 150 square feet.

 

[sandorski]

If it helps alleviate the problem, it's worth doing.

 

[MongGrel]

For 5K and the description of what's being proposed, you could have a really big well decked out tent.

I guess would be more a security issue, but obviously look at what you're dealing with to begin with.

I just won't elaborate more, I'm sure other things involved I won't delve into.

Frig, used to live in Hawaii, I know my father in law at the time had property up there near the beach at North Shore.

They'd run a big MASH type tent up ever Summer, bring a Fridge, TV and some things to the beach near the house, drag some power extension cords from the house through a drainage pipe to power em.

Some cots, etc, even hammocks, I'd go up there and they just lived on the beach all summer, but I guess they still had a fall back house if needed.

In the summer wasn't needed very much.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Next question is who wants one of these parks near their home? I predict not in my back yard to rule the day. Nifty idea though

 

[mizzou]

here is the problem and its more than finding a roof to sleep under. Most homeless people I used to see in Boston are mentally ill and/or alcohol and/or drug addicts. They are not capable of caring for a home or themselves.

this.

occassionalky you run into the nomad/ drifter types....but overall ive seen the homeless as those who would benefit the most from institutionalized medicine and psychiatric care

 

[sportage]

Don't they call these luxury apartments in NY?

 

[Oyeve]

Sounds like nyc projects.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I like the pods idea,... but, I would like it even better if there was a space rocket attached to it,...

And, this solution should be extended to all sorts of undesirables.

 

[child of wonder]

Communal bathrooms? Think of all the drug deals and public sex going on in there! Yeah baby!

I applaud the thought behind the idea, but I can't imagine this wouldn't decay into a crime ridden slum within a few short years. Drug dealers would target these camps for users, gangs would target them for recruits, etc. It would become an unmanageable cesspool.

 

[werepossum]

Well yeah, but that's Boston. Homeless people in San Jose are probably all app developers and serial entrepreneurs who are just too busy to find a house.

lol +1

this.

occassionalky you run into the nomad/ drifter types....but overall ive seen the homeless as those who would benefit the most from institutionalized medicine and psychiatric care

I don't think many people at this point would argue that we've gone so far from the traditional problems associated with care for the mentally ill that we've introduced a whole 'nother set of problems. In our zeal to end institutionalization we've cut to the point that there are not nearly enough beds available for people who truly need to be institutionalized. A really nice outpatient clinic doesn't do one much good if one truly needs highly specialized 24/7 care.

Communal bathrooms? Think of all the drug deals and public sex going on in there! Yeah baby!

I applaud the thought behind the idea, but I can't imagine this wouldn't decay into a crime ridden slum within a few short years. Drug dealers would target these camps for users, gangs would target them for recruits, etc. It would become an unmanageable cesspool.

It's definitely a problem waiting to happen, but that doesn't mean it HAS to happen. For one, aggressive patrolling is definitely needed. For another, communal bathrooms don't have to be communally occupied. One can make a cluster of individual small units similar to residential bathrooms or truck stop showers and still save nearly as much money as with institutional-style bathrooms by making a compact utility cluster.

 

[alzan]

Hats off to the candidates who proposed this; shows what can happen when people put aside differences and work on issue resolution. The barracks idea has a lot of merit as well. Solutions to homelessness need multiple answers; what works best in San Jose may not work in New York, etc.

 

[hal2kilo]

this.

occassionalky you run into the nomad/ drifter types....but overall ive seen the homeless as those who would benefit the most from institutionalized medicine and psychiatric care

Thank goodness they closed all those cruel mental institutions and replaced them with community mental health facilities. Oh, yea the second part never hapenned due to budget cuts.

Shit, I wonder why we have such a big homeless problem in this country.