Who cares? Homelessness has been around forever. Stating that bad economic times cause homelessness is blindingly obvious. Blaming international bankers for these bad economic times ignores that there have been decades and decades of good economic times, including many years where banks were very very active. Your complaints are akin, in my opinion, to complaining about the sun causing skin cancer when it also feeds and clothes us. Ed O.
So they get credit for good times, but it's just magic that bad times happen and no one bears responsibility? By the way those Decades and Decades weren't under the new Basel II accords which upended the apple cart. Also most of our best decades happened under a gold standard which commanded some fiscal discipline. In addition, the repeal of Glass-Stegall under Clinton got rid of the depression era laws that prevented the worst excesses we are seeing now. This was just a furtherance of Reagan's removal of limitations on banks speculating on land and housing which led to the Savings and Loan crisis. So please illuminate me on how there has been some consistent standard of behavior that got us both the good times and bad times. My read of financial history says when certain key regulations that had existed for 40 to 50 years (the good times) were removed and we accepted non-domestic accounting standards (Basel II accords) a financial crisis was to follow as surely as winter follows autumn. I'm a social worker but spent quite a bit of time studying globalization, macro economics and international finance when I was in school. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the international financial crisis was preventable and that it has exacerbated homelessness worldwide which of course includes Portland. People act like decisions politicians and businessmen make happen in some TV sitcom land far away with zero impact on them, until it impacts them and then they sit across from me at my desk saying "Oh my god why did this happen to me! I worked there for 20 years!" The economic crisis and it's impact is not only real, but it has real causes. Some folks thought they could make epic profits by removing certain critical regulatory laws. They removed the laws via their friends on capitol hill and the White House, made the obscene profits and then dumped the losses in our collective laps (bail outs). Now after buying up their peers for pennies on the dollar, they (JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs in particular) are out doing the same kind of manufacture of complex financial instruments that created the crisis. I think the blame lies squarely in their court. This isn't a random event, it's a logical result of removing regulations and enforcing certain international accounting rules.
Well said MaxieP. That's what I was driving at when I said this money is being spent poorly. That is an ideal illustration.
If this were a non-homeless project (like, say, a condo in the pearl of a similar size) would $46.6 million be a reasonable sum? Or would it still be high? Not making a point here, just curious about the numbers. Unrelated comment - I think one problem with your proposed solution is that existing apartment buildings are mostly in places other than old town - places where other residents would not welcome a homeless shelter. barfo
I'm sure there are plenty of "ghetto" apartment buildings in awful areas of Gresham that are a bare step above homelessness that would suffice. At least then some families would have immediate shelter. The huge complex would have been nice were it to have been built in the roaring 90's.
It is pretty much a hell hole in that part of town anyways. Streets are filled with failures in life. I am mixed on this structure though. Why put it up? Why give people who don't deserve it a place to live? Homeless people are loser, drug addict fucking idiots who fucked up in life so bad that now they live on the street. I feel no remorse. You can ALWAYS find some kind of job. These losers failed at life and don't deserve our tax dollars for this. But then again, if it gets their nasty, disgusting asses off the streets so I do not have to look at their filthy, worthless, waste of a human life faces then I am okay with it.
There is a consistent pattern of modernization and freedom of currency, people, and information movement. You pointing out Basel II as if it's some sort of nuclear bomb seems quite simplistic to me and, while I understand and appreciate that you are a social worker and have studied economics in school, I don't think that you can really rely on either of those things as any kind of evidence. Social workers are always going to see the bottom of the food chain in terms of success, so whether times are good or terrible, you're going to have horror stories. Taking an economics class or two and then thinking that one can understand the international banking system is like someone taking a year of Spanish and then pontificating on how South American should speak differently. I'm not trying to slam you--even though I have a degree in economics I don't consider myself an expert, either--it, again, seems like you're looking so hard for why bankers and government are out to get you that of COURSE you're going to convince yourself of somethings. Ed O.
The answer is let them die on the streets. These people do not deserve a place to live. They are worthless piles of shit who fail at life.
Exactly. Which is why I said.... If you build it, they will come. As far as all homeless being mentally ill, that is debatable. Besides the young punks a lot of them are alcoholics and drug addicts. You call call that a disease, or you can call it a choice. But for heavens sakes we are in a recession. Its not like there is lots of extra money floating around to throw at public works projects like this. And this frickin project is expensive. These homeless who live there are going to get a free ride into a brand spankin new place while working poor live in ratholes and are taxed and see their tax dollars paying for this.
I kind of agree with the concept. Not have it be so nice though, it should be a monitored bunkbed-prison style sleeping arrangement to hold more people. At least have some fucking showers and then donations of clothes so at least people don't fucking stink so bad. having them have their own rooms is pretty ridiculous. Have them refuse shelter for anyone inebriated. maybe that will help cut down on them drinking. Better than spending triple the money to rennovate that one building downtown into a "green building" IMO.
If the homeless can find their way downtown, they will be able to find their way to wherever a facility is provided. The real problem is that nobody is going to want that thing in their neighborhood.
