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California WTF? A rant.

I spent the day in Los Angeles yesterday for a convention and, to be real, it wasn’t pretty at all. I had heard about human feces and trash in the streets but I thought that was exaggerated and hey, every city has their “bad” neighborhoods. Just in the drive to and from the venue, which was about an hour from LAX, I saw more than just some litter on the ground. I saw dozens of stuffed shopping carts blocking the sidewalks, people with giant bags of cans walking casually through traffic, drivers being hit up for spare change while waiting in line at a drive through, campsites and cardboard dwellings in virtually every open space along the freeway, tents pitched in the doorways of buildings and even streets lined with derelict, trashed out RVs (that **** would be towed away where I live).

No doubt, there are very nice areas of LA, much nicer than anything we have we live. I think, though, what I saw is an extreme example of what happens when you divorce people from any accountability for their lives and choices and, instead, place blame those who do work to take care of themselves. It actually isn’t selfish to take care of yourself so others don’t have to take care of you. Compassion is a great thing and we need social safety nets but compassion without some responsibility is just enabling and I don’t think anything I saw was beneficial to anyone.

/end rant

I've never been hit up in a thrive-thu before. Hearing that's new. I have given plenty of my spare change in my car to homeless people that I see all around downtown Houston. Usually they are on the side of the street. It accumulates all the time, and I'm fine with giving it away. By the way, I'm going to be staying in Los Angeles for a some days next month. First time visiting, so it's gonna be new for me.
 
Perhaps he wants them locked in workhouses.

I would support building shelters for these people to live in. Forcing them to move away isn't solving the problem. That would get them off the streets, and living in dingy trailer RV's, or underneath highways.
 
I don’t mean to sound judgmental. I legit thought it was sad. I have no doubt LA has a lot more to offer than what I saw. Where I live is far from rich, and we do have homeless people, of course, but no way would people be allowed to set up residence anywhere they wanted.

I get ya, but LA has a lot of great stuff. I'm going to be in Highland Park in Oct for a wedding, great area.
 
All the best places in the world to live are liberal/progressive/leftist utopias.

I have no doubt that the richest liberal areas of California don’t have that. Why would that be, you think?
 
Yeah. I know a lot of taxes are collected in California. Seems reasonable to expect the streets not be taken over by squatters in rotting tents and RVs.

Should they bus them to the city you live in ? Should they be thrown in jail or a camp? Concentrate them in a few locations so that they don't offend other people?
 
In 2017-2018 the city of San Diego, which is fourth on the list for homelessness was hit with a deadly HepatitisA epidemic among the homeless camping on public sidewalks in downtown San Diego.
580 cases and 20 deaths... The disease is caused by food contaminated by feces; people ****ting on the sidewalks and streets; extreme unsanitary conditions...

San Diego had an obligation to the public to clean this up asap, and they did. They didn't look the other way pretending it was't happening, they became accountable and did something about it.

It's a mega cop-out for those who are turning the blind eye to screech, oh but socialism and LA is still pretty in certain parts...what utter bs.

This is not a partisan problem, it's an humanitarian crisis which is happening in cities along the west coast. Time to hold the elected accountable. The mayor of LA needs to go...

In March 2017, San Diego County epidemiologists reported an outbreak of Hepatitis A (HepA)
cases. This sudden increase in HepA centered on the local homeless population and illicit IV
drug users, and was unrelated to food contamination. Over the next few months this developed
into the largest epidemic of HepA in the country in over 25 years. It was not until six months
later, after 434 cases and 16 deaths had been reported, that the Public Health Officer for the
County of San Diego declared and San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) ratified a
local public health emergency. The Board ended the emergency on January 23, 2018, at which
time 580 cases and 20 deaths due to HepA had been reported.
https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/grandjury/reports/2017-2018/HepAReport.pdf
 
Yeah. I know a lot of taxes are collected in California. Seems reasonable to expect the streets not be taken over by squatters in rotting tents and RVs.

This is a citywide health emergency. The mayor needs to go. Put someone in there that can clean this mess up. They get more money via Propostion HHH and Prop H to combat homelessness and squalor, and the population of homelessness in LA increases 12%. Does this make sense to you?

Yeah, me neither.

In 2016, Los Angeles voters approved a $1.2-billion bond measure to help fund housing for homeless people, with a goal of 10,000 new units in a decade.

Now, after hustling to get as many housing projects started as soon as possible, city officials are coming to the end of the money available through Proposition HHH, and it’s not certain that promise will be kept
.

The city has committed two-thirds of the bond to secure a little more than half the units the measure was intended to subsidize.
How close is L.A. to building 10,000 houses for homeless people? Here’s a breakdown - Los Angeles Times
 
Shouldn’t the poor and homeless be actually better off in a city run by more liberal leaders?

Too many steps to wrong direction?

Poorest and richest in same city? L.A. is "nice" example of extreme inequality, but it's ok - I guess. Has to be ok, because it's getting worse. More shelters for homeless? Hide them under rocks? Sucks to be poor in US - being poor should be illegal!!! One way is build new for profit prisons and jail all homeless - clean the streets!!! Maybe MAGA 2.0 will solve this issue - so you have to re-elect Trump \o/

And, of course, the liberal / progressive / leftist solution is to heavily and punitively tax those that are working, are contributing, and give it away for nothing to those that don't. \O/ Face it, you get more of what you subsidize, and in this case, the liberal / progressive / leftist public policy is to subsidize the questionable behaviors which are the topic of this thread.

Everyone of those homeless people could find a job, such is the job demand in this economy. True, they may have to move to where the job is, but what's keeping them squatting in these liberal led and managed cities where the job opportunities for them aren't? Sometimes you have to move to where the jobs are.
 
I spent the day in Los Angeles yesterday for a convention and, to be real, it wasn’t pretty at all. I had heard about human feces and trash in the streets but I thought that was exaggerated and hey, every city has their “bad” neighborhoods. Just in the drive to and from the venue, which was about an hour from LAX, I saw more than just some litter on the ground. I saw dozens of stuffed shopping carts blocking the sidewalks, people with giant bags of cans walking casually through traffic, drivers being hit up for spare change while waiting in line at a drive through, campsites and cardboard dwellings in virtually every open space along the freeway, tents pitched in the doorways of buildings and even streets lined with derelict, trashed out RVs (that **** would be towed away where I live).

No doubt, there are very nice areas of LA, much nicer than anything we have we live. I think, though, what I saw is an extreme example of what happens when you divorce people from any accountability for their lives and choices and, instead, place blame those who do work to take care of themselves. It actually isn’t selfish to take care of yourself so others don’t have to take care of you. Compassion is a great thing and we need social safety nets but compassion without some responsibility is just enabling and I don’t think anything I saw was beneficial to anyone.

/end rant

Downtown Los Angeles has not really been a social hub since maybe the 1950's.
It's a necessary place, it's useful, it's economically active but Angelenos do not identify with downtown L.A. in their minds the way Dallasites or Houstonians might identify with theirs.

That is not an excuse. I am merely explaining how the place is laid out, that's all. Angelenos are busy trying to clean up the downtown parts of Whittier, Mission Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Santa Monica, Inglewood, Long Beach, El Monte, Pasadena, Torrance, Garden Grove, etc. L.A. is a bunch of suburbs knitted together and the downtown area isn't how they identify.

We have always had an oversupply of homeless due to the weather but adding people who lost their jobs, or could no longer afford their rent after the last big hike, that has pushed the problem to the bursting point here and in other cities, but especially here and in places like San Francisco because of the housing shortage and the high rents.

No, it's NOT beneficial and that may be why some Angelenos are trying to mount a recall campaign on the Mayor.
Believe me when I say that many Angelenos see that places like SLC have figured out how to help the homelessness problem, and they're realizing that the city is dragging their feet.

But as you already said, the entire metro area isn't like this.
It's a national problem but Southern California is feeling the pain first and perhaps more than other places.

I've lived in places where everybody goes downtown all the time. Minneapolis is a great example of that.
I have not been to downtown L.A. in over two years, and that last time WAS at the L.A. Convention Center by the way.
That was the only reason to go. The only other reason I can think of would be if I had to go to court for something, which I haven't had to do in a long time.

Wife and I just went to downtown Whittier a week ago for dinner and a movie.

whittier_primary_0.jpg
 
Should they bus them to the city you live in ? Should they be thrown in jail or a camp? Concentrate them in a few locations so that they don't offend other people?

Eh, I wouldn’t want that for my city. If that’s the liberal vision for the US, I’ll pass.
 
Where I live is far from rich, and we do have homeless people, of course, but no way would people be allowed to set up residence anywhere they wanted.






I like to walk to shop at a local Trader Joe's or a 99 cents only store.

I walk along the famed boulevard called Sunset.

There are tents blocking some sidewalks.

The saddest scene is the tents near the movie studio once owned by Charlie Chaplin in the heyday of Hollywood.

You have to understand our "leaders" ' hands are tied. (a) The homeless cannot be "escorted" to homeless shelters if they do not want to go, (b) the homeless have the "right" to set up tents within certain hours of the day, and (C) the homeless with brain health issues cannot be forced into treatment.


One thing IS certain: the homeless WILL be gone from the more famous streets when the 2028 Olympics come to town. Our "leaders" will want to make a good impression. Of course, by then, the Democrats will be back in power in D.C. and will no doubt have solved all social problems such as homelessness.
 
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Too many steps to wrong direction?

Poorest and richest in same city? L.A. is "nice" example of extreme inequality, but it's ok - I guess. Has to be ok, because it's getting worse. More shelters for homeless? Hide them under rocks? Sucks to be poor in US - being poor should be illegal!!! One way is build new for profit prisons and jail all homeless - clean the streets!!! Maybe MAGA 2.0 will solve this issue - so you have to re-elect Trump \o/

Slothfulness, mental illness, and drug addiction are a result of "extreme inequality?"

Please..:lol:
 
I don’t mean to sound judgmental. I legit thought it was sad. I have no doubt LA has a lot more to offer than what I saw. Where I live is far from rich, and we do have homeless people, of course, but no way would people be allowed to set up residence anywhere they wanted.

It's not that they are "allowed", it's that the city is overwhelmed.
You can't exactly call in the Scoops, like in Soylent Green.

 
Downtown Los Angeles has not really been a social hub since maybe the 1950's.
It's a necessary place, it's useful, it's economically active but Angelenos do not identify with downtown L.A. in their minds the way Dallasites or Houstonians might identify with theirs.

That is not an excuse. I am merely explaining how the place is laid out, that's all. Angelenos are busy trying to clean up the downtown parts of Whittier, Mission Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Santa Monica, Inglewood, Long Beach, El Monte, Pasadena, Torrance, Garden Grove, etc. L.A. is a bunch of suburbs knitted together and the downtown area isn't how they identify.

We have always had an oversupply of homeless due to the weather but adding people who lost their jobs, or could no longer afford their rent after the last big hike, that has pushed the problem to the bursting point here and in other cities, but especially here and in places like San Francisco because of the housing shortage and the high rents.

No, it's NOT beneficial and that may be why some Angelenos are trying to mount a recall campaign on the Mayor.
Believe me when I say that many Angelenos see that places like SLC have figured out how to help the homelessness problem, and they're realizing that the city is dragging their feet.

But as you already said, the entire metro area isn't like this.
It's a national problem but Southern California is feeling the pain first and perhaps more than other places.

I've lived in places where everybody goes downtown all the time. Minneapolis is a great example of that.
I have not been to downtown L.A. in over two years, and that last time WAS at the L.A. Convention Center by the way.
That was the only reason to go. The only other reason I can think of would be if I had to go to court for something, which I haven't had to do in a long time.

Wife and I just went to downtown Whittier a week ago for dinner and a movie.

whittier_primary_0.jpg

Are you saying ONLY the homeless live in these areas? Because if so, you are out of touch. Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people 58,000 residents mixed with 50,000 homeless makes for a bad combination
Some Maywood residents demand mayor resign due to garbage problems - Video | KTTV
 
Should they bus them to the city you live in ? Should they be thrown in jail or a camp? Concentrate them in a few locations so that they don't offend other people?

Considering vagrancy is illegal I don’t see the issue with jail.
 
It's not that they are "allowed", it's that the city is overwhelmed.
You can't exactly call in the Scoops, like in Soylent Green.



Yeah, liberal city officials are overwhelmed with their own self-importance while street clogging trash is bringing rats flea-borne typhus and maggots to the inner DT-LA area.
 
Yeah, liberal city officials are overwhelmed with their own self-importance while street clogging trash is bringing rats flea-borne typhus and maggots to the inner DT-LA area.

So you honestly believe that liberalism causes homelessness :lamo
 
Downtown Los Angeles has not really been a social hub since maybe the 1950's.
It's a necessary place, it's useful, it's economically active but Angelenos do not identify with downtown L.A. in their minds the way Dallasites or Houstonians might identify with theirs.

That is not an excuse. I am merely explaining how the place is laid out, that's all. Angelenos are busy trying to clean up the downtown parts of Whittier, Mission Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Santa Monica, Inglewood, Long Beach, El Monte, Pasadena, Torrance, Garden Grove, etc. L.A. is a bunch of suburbs knitted together and the downtown area isn't how they identify.

We have always had an oversupply of homeless due to the weather but adding people who lost their jobs, or could no longer afford their rent after the last big hike, that has pushed the problem to the bursting point here and in other cities, but especially here and in places like San Francisco because of the housing shortage and the high rents.

No, it's NOT beneficial and that may be why some Angelenos are trying to mount a recall campaign on the Mayor.
Believe me when I say that many Angelenos see that places like SLC have figured out how to help the homelessness problem, and they're realizing that the city is dragging their feet.

But as you already said, the entire metro area isn't like this.
It's a national problem but Southern California is feeling the pain first and perhaps more than other places.

I've lived in places where everybody goes downtown all the time. Minneapolis is a great example of that.
I have not been to downtown L.A. in over two years, and that last time WAS at the L.A. Convention Center by the way.
That was the only reason to go. The only other reason I can think of would be if I had to go to court for something, which I haven't had to do in a long time.

Wife and I just went to downtown Whittier a week ago for dinner and a movie.

whittier_primary_0.jpg

Looks nice, for real. I live in El Paso, Tx and, to be fair, I doubt anyone would come here for a luxury vacation or booming nightlife. I like it here, a lot, myself but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve always said it’s a nice place to live but you wouldn’t want to visit. Most of our city leaders are Democrats and some years back they started working on “revitalizing” our downtown. I, admittedly, scoffed at that but you know what? It is nicer.
 
Looks nice, for real. I live in El Paso, Tx and, to be fair, I doubt anyone would come here for a luxury vacation or booming nightlife. I like it here, a lot, myself but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve always said it’s a nice place to live but you wouldn’t want to visit. Most of our city leaders are Democrats and some years back they started working on “revitalizing” our downtown. I, admittedly, scoffed at that but you know what? It is nicer.

The only time I've been to El Paso, is when my family and I went on a road trip to San Francisco. Long time agooooo.
 
Are you saying ONLY the homeless live in these areas? Because if so, you are out of touch. Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people 58,000 residents mixed with 50,000 homeless makes for a bad combination
Some Maywood residents demand mayor resign due to garbage problems - Video | KTTV

Do you realize how ignorant that remark sounds?
No, you don't. Or you do, I don't care, but show me where I ever said that "only the homeless" live there.
You can't, because I never said it. You're trying to use drama and hysteria and straw men, and it's not wo

And fifty-eight thousand residents is a drop in the bucket.

Look at this picture.
Fifty-eight thousand live here.

Los_Angeles%2C_Winter_2016.jpg


Now look at THIS picture (Mansfield, TX)

DMi+web+downtown-Mansfield-night-pano-55.jpg


Fifty-eight thousand people live there too.

You just reinforced my point FOR ME, the point being that downtown Los Angeles might be a C.B.D. but it is not a major social or population hub, because it only has as many residents as a one-horse/two stoplight town in North Texas.
(which by the way I LIVED IN for ten years)

The power and energy it takes to refute your bullcrap is of several orders of magnitude greater than the energy you invested in spewing it, so seeing as how I get no payoff from pointing out your hidebound ignorance, please just carry on.

By the way, downtown L.A. is not THE central business district, it's just one of MANY.
I guarantee you that at least a dozen cities in L.A. County have as much if not more economic activity as DTLA.
 
Great idea throw people in jail for not having a home. At a cost if what $60 000 a year

Not for “not having a home”, for breaking the law. Aren’t we a nation of laws? Homelessness is not a crime, but neither should it be a blanket defense. Should homeless people be arrested for theft? Intentionally causing property damage? Trespass?
 
The only time I've been to El Paso, is when my family and I went on a road trip to San Francisco. Long time agooooo.

That’s how most people know El Paso. Driving through it at 65mph. :lol: El Paso has always been more of a “pass” to somewhere else. Frankly I think that’s another reason our homeless problem is fairly minimal (not to downplay it). We’re more of a stop off than a destination.
 
I've never been hit up in a thrive-thu before. Hearing that's new. I have given plenty of my spare change in my car to homeless people that I see all around downtown Houston. Usually they are on the side of the street. It accumulates all the time, and I'm fine with giving it away. By the way, I'm going to be staying in Los Angeles for a some days next month. First time visiting, so it's gonna be new for me.

What are you going to be doing in LA?
 
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