Why homelessness is worse in California than Texas

Today, the Lone Star state counts 90 homeless people per every 100,000 residents. In California, the problem is almost five times as bad.
Full text and links: reason.com/video/2023/04/18/w...
Produced by Liz Wolfe and Zach Weissmueller.
Camera by Andrew Miller. Sound design by Ian Keyser. Graphics by Isaac Reese.
Music Credits: "Inborn" by Piotr Hummel via Artlist; "Crossing the High Desert" by Lance Conrad via Artlist; "Kill or Be Killed Showdown" by Lance Conrad via Artlist; "Hope and Heisenberg" by SPEARFISHER via Artlist; "Crystalline" by Leroy Wild via Artlist; "Diamonds" by Livingrooms via Artlist; "Deadman Pass" by The Talbott Brothers via Artlist; "Beer House" by Alex Grohl via Artlist; "Martha" by Swirling Ship via Artlist; "Wanderer" by The Talbott Brothers via Artlist; "Finding My Memories" by Yehezkel Raz via Artlist; "Railroad" by Max H. via Artlist; "Who Goes There" by Falconer via Artlist; "Ross Landing" by David Benedict via Artlist; "Country Roads" by Kick Lee via Artlist; "Grey Shadow" by ANBR via Artlist
Photo Credits: DPST/Newscom; John Marshall Mantel/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; JIM RUYMEN/UPI/Newscom; TERRY SCHMITT/UPI/Newscom; Mike Kane/SanAntonioExpress/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Bob Daemmrich/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Scott Coleman/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Taylor Jones/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; FRANCES M. ROBERTS/Newscom; RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom; Mario Cantu/Cal Sport Media/Newscom; Jana Birchum/Polaris/Newscom; Bob Daemmrich/Polaris/Newscom; Curt Teich Postcard Archives / Heritage Images/Newscom; Jamal A. Wilson - Pool via CNP/Newscom; Michael Ho Wai Lee/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Brittany Murray/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Wu Kaixiang / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom; Julie Edwards / Avalon/Newscom; David Crane/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Peter Bennett/Citizen of the Planet/Newscom; Facebook/Haven for Hope; Facebook/Coalition for the Homeless of Houston; Flickr/Eric Garcetti (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); Flickr/Steve Shook (CC BY 2.0)
00:00 Introduction
1:54 Austin Community First! Village
10:48 San Antonio Haven for Hope
18:48 Houston Housing First

[@edward.abraham]

I’m in Ohio and the housing market here over the last 7-8 years is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Homes that were bought for $130K in 2015 are now being sold for $590k. I’m talking about tiny, disgusting, poorly built 950 square foot shit boxes in quite mediocre neighborhoods. Then you’ve got Better, average sized homes in nicer neighborhoods that were $300K+ 10 years ago selling for $750k+ now. Wild times.

[@hunter-bourke21]

A recession as bad it can be, provides good buying opportunities in the markets if you’re careful and it can also create volatility giving great short time buy and sell opportunities too. This is not financial advise but get buying, cash isn’t king at all in this time!

[@james.atkins88]

On the contrary, even if you’re not skilled, it is still possible to hire one. I am a project manager and my personal portfolio of approximately $750k took a big hit in April due to the crash. I quickly got in touch with a financial-planner that devised a defensive strategy to protect and profit from my portfolio this red season. I’ve made over $350k since then.

[@rebecca_burns14]

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[@james.atkins88]

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[@veronica.baker1]

I've taken the initiative to research "Camille Alicia Garcia" online and verify her credentials. I'm impressed with her expertise, and I've reached out to her to share my financial market goals in detail.

[@mjmeans7983]

Wasn't there a story a while back where someone in CA built a bunch of tiny homes for homeless but was told by the government that he can't let the homeless live there?

[@kalvin1123]

The video is "This LA Musician Built $1,200 Tiny Houses for the Homeless. Then the City Seized Them."

[@regitzecamara6761]

Yep I live in California

[@YadraVoat]

@@kalvin1123 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGfLaJmCZ5eKeac

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

Yep.

[@DiBaozi]

Yep. It was so messed up and typical of Californians politicians to seize and destroy the homes.

[@michealsharp8117]

Sadly enough i was homeless in California (Monterey/Salinas area) for a few months and it was brutal.. it is hard to get help as a single male with no kids.. i ended up moving to Minnesota where things started looking up.. got my license back after 21yrs moved into an apartment got a vehicle that's even insured..lol.. life isnt all roses and cupcakes but its not all that bad either.. to top it off im also a recovering opiate addict clean and sober since August 4th 2015....

[@martymcfly88mph35]

Good job Mike. It's extremely hard to dig your way out of a situation like that.

[@notisac3149]

Sober since 2015? That’s great man, I wish you well! I don’t wanna wish you luck because one must consciously choose to get better, luck doesn’t change your mindset and determination.

[@michealsharp8117]

@@notisac3149 thank you for the kind words... There is definitely no luck in sobriety it takes hard work determination and an immense will to survive and stay on top because even a tiny tinyyyy little mistep can be the difference between life or death .. I have been down the road one to many times trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.. so one day while driving down that same road I decided to stop and make a left which ended up leading me to where I'm at now ...

[@michealsharp8117]

@@martymcfly88mph35 thank you ... I appreciate the words

[@michealsharp8117]

@karlwithak1835 ain't that the gosh damn truth ...

[@mctrimm7097]

I volunteered at Haven For Hope, serving lunch, and was surprised at how happy and grateful they were. They're not a homeless shelter, not a soup kitchen, the residents have to go to classes, pass drug tests, etc., so they end up living with others who also give AF. That's why They're successful.

[@Seevawonderloaf]

Such an important point! You are held responsible by your community which cares about you and who you care about

[@royhoeksema5720]

This might be me being overly Dutch, but I sincerely don’t get why they should pass drug tests. Drug users and even abusers deserve shelter too. Over here we pass out heroine and other substances to the addicted homeless at shelters while also offering addicts therapy once they’re ready for it.

[@mctrimm7097]

@@royhoeksema5720 The purpose of Haven For Hope is NOT to provide shelter, NOT to enable self-destructive lifestyle choices; their goal is to HELP people who are destroying their lives with drugs by teaching them life success skills while providing them shelter. I was addicted to drugs myself, it's a soulless life I was blessed to escape from before destroying myself completely. That's what makes me want to volunteer with organizations that help ONLY those who work for helping themselves. Call me heartless, see if I care. I know what it's like, enabling them does them more harm than good. I'm not the expert on Haven For Hope, all I did was volunteer serving lunch, but they are way better than a shelter.

[@mctrimm7097]

@@royhoeksema5720 As an aside, I wasn't suggesting that the Dutch system is wrong; they're a completely different society, what works for the Dutch does not work for an American. So, I have no opinion on drug laws or customs in Amsterdam and I wish them the best with what works for them.

[@royhoeksema5720]

@@mctrimm7097 Appreciate the comment. I do feel the slight need to note that Amsterdam makes up 4% of the population tho😅

[@TooMuchButtHair]

It's almost weird to watch actual journalism in 2023. Keep up the good work Reason.

[@mostlypeacefulcitizen8006]

Amen, refreshing to see today no partisan BS just journalism.

[@sparkeykills1]

Yeah no kidding, couldn't have said it better. This is just honest good journalism. Very refreshing

[@lisahertel2415]

This is old

[@cswann8]

True that. There are some very big YT channels that pretend to be "journalistic" but aren't anything of the sort. And at least one of them started out doing real journalism. He's popular YTuber who's famous for his trademark beanie.

[@JTAminecraft]

​@@cswann8 I know right. I think the beanie ate his brain at some point

[@ja8898]

I live near Chico California. We had a tiny home setup like this outside of city limits, it was set up that way to avoid the zoning laws. The people coordinating it were sued and a judge ruled it was too far away from the city, so that the homeless couldn't get services. So they offered to move it within the city, and it was shot down for not being zoned for that... You literally can't win.

[@liamwinter4512]

Heil big government bureaucracy

[@daviderwin4705]

CA utilizes all of those strategies, and has for decades. There is one of a handful of shelters in Bakersfield that operates almost exactly like the one they highlight in this video in San Antonio. 3 out of 7 people I met in it were from Texas. California's homeless crisis is more complex than other states because other states contribute to it.

[@billv7356]

boggles the mind

[@Zt3v3]

Do you think our state's inability to combat homelessness effectively is incompetence or malicious, for profit? I honestly don't know, and suspect some are profiting from a growing homeless population.

[@kutie216]

So no tiny homes but they allow ADUs? Lol

[@tylersculpts]

Strict zoning laws are a really big problem in the US. You can’t build walkable places where people can meet eachother, you can’t build communal gathering areas or public parks, and you can’t integrate stores and shops into neighborhoods, you can only build a massive Walmart to outcompete local businesses. That village of tiny homes honestly is the future.

[@panangramgepearanan3974]

TL;DR: True but sorta wrong video. I 100% agree though, our laws are so bad, specifically zoning laws. I don’t care how rich you are, we should care about lives rather than the top 1% and they greedy behind. Not only do zoning laws affect the things you listed, but like in the video, it affects our homelessness. We have so many homeless people yet for the federal government going with the route “Homes first” they sure seem to like it when ya try and build any homes. It’s not a rocket science solution either, the rich are just to greedy to let people in need have a place to live. A lot the issues, especially in CA, when it comes homelessness is that their aren’t enough homes. It’s not only that people can’t even afford them, there is simply too little housing for everyone resident to sleep in versus the birth and population growth. Then the solution, just building more houses, is blocked by rich people, boycotting housing development into oblivion to where it’s pretty much shut down, and zoning laws just ruining it for everyone. And it’s always for stupid reasons like, Rich folk: ”I won’t be able to see the sunset as well if this apartment is built.” Some people will truly ruin people’s lives because they want their home to look pretty. Kinda like the NIMBY movement. Pretty doesn’t matter right now, what matters most is lives. And the funny thing is, their pretty home and neighborhood beauty won’t be ruined by the apartment or (if they were legal) duplex, town house or what whatever other middle homes are built. This same thing will also happen with transportation, of course there are other reasons as well like laws and density but the fact that a minor beauty change is even a factor over taking improvement on millions of people’s lives because they are so rich is incredibly stupid. And if your mad about some apartment being built and blocking your sunset or whatever because you payed money for it that view, I hope they realize that you will be more comfortable than anyone living in that apartment, and it won’t effect your life at all really. Plus your kind of slow to pay for something that changes over time and will change drastically over a longer period of time. Wanna see the view? Drive around the apartment or two and you’ll get your money’s worth. I think about this subject every day, and pray for my country, hoping that one day it will live up to the better stereotypes that we have… but a stereotype isn’t meant to be true so that faithful day might never come. I pray that these people at the top find compassion and moral values but in the end, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. This got super long, I’m just passionate for my people because I love my fellow piers, I don’t want anybody to have to suffer because of greedy people at the top. God bless ya and have a good one, hope your doing well 🫶🏾❤️🫶🏾

[@benchoflemons398]

It’s an even bigger problem outside of the us

[@VoiceDisasterNz]

@@benchoflemons398 Okay but we're talking about the US

[@neetfreek9921]

@@panangramgepearanan3974Pretty sure rich people (middle class as well) don’t want more housing cuz they tie their equity to it. If more houses get built, then the value of their assets go down. Not really much to do with views. Also, apparently it’s really hard to get ahold of resources for building houses right now, so that plays a factor. Housing really needs to stop being treated like an asset for investment. It’s also a really shitty investment for the majority of people anyways but that’s another topic. But there are automated house builders that seem to bring hope to this. One being 3d printing and the other a sort of brick laying machine. These will significantly bring pricing down if the companies don’t get to pocket the difference.

[@TheManinBlack9054]

@@benchoflemons398 no

[@jamesharrison6569]

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[@serenasmith2859]

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[@juanmontoya6622]

I beg to differ. America is brimming with natural and human resources. China and others are not producers, but copiers. Others like BRICs are haters. America can only decline if it walks away fully from what made it Great. 50% of America are still standing, and there is no substitute for the US Dollar.

[@traffic_cone_3000]

traffic cone here to redirect the comments away from this spam thread

[@TheRisky9]

So the biggest difference is that Texas encourages private individuals and charities to handle the homeless in their community while California discourages it and even sabatoges efforts. The result is that homeless in Texas are viewed as neighbors and members of the community while in California they are "others."

[@regitzecamara6761]

Yes if you are not on drugs and you are homeless you are a burden to the state of California. They need broken ppl cuz how they make money

[@patrick8904]

You see Washington is down right broken. This why Texas has got texit. Long live texit

[@humpteedumptee8629]

I can guarantee people in Texas are not going around hugging homeless people. Texas has consistently been in the top 5 most homeless list for decades. and the homeless are treated like zombies. just cause one dude decided to go build a bunch of tiny homes and rent them for profit. dont mean the state is singing around campfires. building affordable housing has always been the only reliable way to combat homelessness.

[@dazzlingdexter5060]

Texas just doing a better job.

[@bellagirlgirl8827]

no, the biggest difference is that calif allows the homeless to do what they want, in the name of protecting their "rights," whereas texas puts them in programs to learn how to help themselves.

[@karenk3043]

I live and worked just outside of downtown Houston and since I worked "second shift" I watched the homeless population shrink on my drive home. I am glad to see that something good comes out of no zoning. It can be jarring when you have grown up in Dallas County.

[@jortizz]

I agree with you. I also live in the Houston area and have seen the homeless population decrease over the last decade.

[@thawhiteazn]

The reduction in homelessness in Houston is not from lack of zoning, it’s from a concerted effort by the local government. If it were due to no zoning, homelessness wouldn’t have been an issue in the first place since Houston hasn’t had zoning since way before you were paying attention to the homeless population.

[@thehillbillygamer2183]

The problem is that the California Democrats on loud the police to arrest these vagrants for anything less than murder

[@ab8588]

@@jortizz good. then homeless people of California need to move to Texas.

[@tommyanomaly6193]

Because the city of Houston is authoritarian. I live here so I would know.

[@erickgutierrez6743]

I was a mental health social worker for the homeless in Los Angeles county. What isn’t talked about here is the "greyhound" treatment these states have. Anecdotally, 50% of my clients originated from out of state! Yeah this approach may work with SOME of the homeless but it appears they greyhound their difficult homeless people to areas like LA.

[@TOMVUTHEPIMP]

I was homeless in Texas. I left went to California because that's the best place to be homeless. 1) Weather is generally good depending on location 2) Lots support groups handing out food and water. 3) I could steal without penalty 4) Cheap drugs everywhere and plenty of advocacy groups that support it. Im clean and back in Texas. If I was homeless again Id be on a bus back to California on day 1.

[@Nordic_Sky]

The homeless love CA because they have access to cheap drugs, the cops won't hassle them, and there are lots of services available. The cops have no clout. They are literally begging the homeless to accept services. It's lunacy. If you wanted to MAXIMIZE the number of homeless, you would do what CA is doing now.

[@andrewdominowski4631]

@@TOMVUTHEPIMPif you build it they will come

[@Mugenkidd82]

Yup I work in LB and the homeless come from outta state..

[@crazyoyo2]

See Texas knows how to handle the problem.

[@selenajack2036]

With inflation running at a four-decade high, Recession is now the ‘most likely’ outcome for the economy and i cannot imagine being a victim of circumstances. My portfolio suffered a big hit, holding it further won’t be any good. I've heard of people netting hundreds of thousands this red season. How can i ensure this?

[@bsetdays6784]

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[@adenmall7596]

@@bsetdays6784 Who is your coach if this is not too much i'm asking? I've been looking into advisors lately myself, my retirement plans are going down the drain, my 401k has particularly lost everything gained since 2021.

[@bsetdays6784]

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[@cloudyblaze7916]

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[@LordVader1094]

OHHH I SURE DO LOVE BOT CHAINS

[@shrikedecil]

The very word "Homelessness" is basically intentionally disguising the actual problems. There's several lumped under the same label, and then solutions to one subgroup are shot down as "not solutions" for not addressing some *other* subgroup. Politicians can then grift off the issue, like always.

[@SofaSpy]

I've always said this, just like in the medical field, you do not treat the symptoms, you treat the underlining condition. You can have a cough, but that cough can be caused by a host of many medical conditions. Homelessness is just a symptom of many failed aspects of society. failed local economies, failed mental health systems, failed veterans systems, failed zoning laws, etc etc etc. Building more "homeless shelters does not solve homeless caused by failed mental health institutions, or failed veterans institution, or drug epidemics etc. Homeless will still continue and grow

[@shrikedecil]

@@SofaSpy Add in the "rebelling against the system"/camping types, and battered spouse aspect. But: you're precisely on target. "Shrikeville rules" would be: You can't operate a business inside my city limits without your business owning housing for the number direct and indirect workers you have. Yes, those houses/apartments/sheds will end up tiny., tiny tiny. But. You've provided a lot of housing that people that *do* want cheap housing could use. Plenty of people reasonably content so long as they have wifi and a fridge. The resulting crash of housing prices can be dealt with later. But this method would definitely separate distinct causes out from one another.

[@SirBlackReeds]

Eh, they've hit the cap on how much they can grift on that term. They're transitioning to the term "unhoused."

[@keremcagin1228]

Exactly! This is what a lot of people do not get. The "homeless" crisis isn't really what it is. What is happening is you have people who suffer the worst situations in life (mental illness, health conditions, disabilities and so on) and yet CA politicians just sit there, do nothing, ignore the problem and let drug/sex traffickers exploit the most vunerable members of society. Yet when there are groups who can more effectively help these communities, CA officials impose harsh over-regulations on these people. Also, building more and more shelters won't solve common problems. What we need is our local law enforcement and elected officials to crack down on drug traffickers and crime as hard as possible and ignore the "feelings" of marginal groups.

[@jasonfranklin9602]

Yep. Exactly facts.

[@jopainting1668]

I have lived in Texas my whole life, the homelessness has absolutely NOT been decreasing in Texas, what's happened is they force people off of the streets and deeper into the woods. Austin is absolutely nothing like it was even just 12 years ago.. it's been being destroyed due to the state and city selling out to big tech. I can no longer afford to live in my home city. There also used to be friendly, relatively safe homeless people around and a lot of people knew who they were. It's not like that anymore. I hate what has been happening to Austin. It's an absolute disgrace and should be criminal. Our environment and culture is being destroyed by the people moving here for the wrong reasons.

[@Interdimensionaltravelagent]

Texas has the largest prison population, even beating California, there is your answer.

[@PotatoeChipz]

Ah, corporate greed thanks to the American desire to buy useless stuff that eventually ends up in the trash. Capitalism and overconsumption at its finest. This has been going on for decades and I'm glad to hear you finally noticed.

[@TheMissingxtension]

Irving chasses homeless people from the woods, i have been told over and over again by the homeless.

[@Candysweetcandy]

I visited Austin in 2021, and it was sad to see the city full of homeless tents. Austin is one of the most shameful cities in the US.

[@systematicallyshocked]

Many of the people in Austin aren’t from Texas. Many are from California who brought their voting/laws and views here. I worked with many construction housing and apartments people who told me what they saw as well as dealing with MANY who they themselves said were coming from California and west(coast) states. I believe it started around 2005 is when the massive increase and migration happened. Also the period South Texas saw a rise in crime. I remember specifically hearing “stuff like this has never happened before” in our small towns which had always been safe.

[@bobocomments]

I was a tour boat captain in downtown San Antonio for years and I saw first hand how cops dealt respectfully and firmly with homeless. Also twice I met California city officials that had come to SA to learn about haven for hope

[@squibbelsmcjohnson]

Democrats love to pretend don't they... Most democrate cities have cops that are absolutely horrible, corrupt. Same for their systems, policies... LA goes to shit every year but how dare they try a new approach other then a good Ole democrate who will waste their money and do nothing

[@strayedarticle2838]

How did they feel about Texas bussing their homeless to California?

[@olliegarcia2306]

Oh shit I work at CPS I see y’all at the river walk always that’s awesome!… one of the river cops was being a dick tho and told me I can’t smoke on the river walk I was like wtf… but yeah marbach is getting really bad with homeless but Cali is 1000x worse id say.

[@aaron.harrell]

Missing a big one: the weather in Texas is generally quite brutal, whereas California is moderate by comparison. We also get a lot of tropical storms in Texas. We are the second most expensive state to insure a home. It is much harder to live outside in Texas than California, weatherwise. I will say that the homeless population appears to be increasing in the North Texas area, though.

[@KristinaKarina]

Not anymore. Didn’t you see the weather on the news from California last winter and this spring? And the only thing separating Texas (Texan born &bred) from the zombies in CalifornUtopia is the desert. They attracted them there by giving $500/mo. Handouts to drug addicts and throttling the police from enforcing the law because these people have the right to “bodily autonomy “, and to do drugs, or poop, or set the neighborhood on fire 🔥 on the streets. The Californians have been a problem since the 1980’s. I used to live in Austin. I watched it go from a VERY affordable college town to a place where I can’t even afford to live anymore, and I’m a nurse. Then they come there with their high prices and b*tch about the culture. Big Industry and your State Senators (spokespeople/dirty-workers of Texas big financiers) attract these problems because they want the industry. They charge these people NO taxes. These out of state companies and investors have no “skin in the game “ as the CEO in Austin said. You should watch what representatives and Senators from your district are doing with YOUR money, and vote them out if they will only attract problems like the CalifornUtopians in the future. The NYC-ers nearly ruined the cost of living in New England where I now am (70* today-July 31- 50% humidity) during COVID. I am afraid the problem is going to get worse as the immigrants flee the city.

[@bigchief4044]

@@KristinaKarina lol … you’re being ridiculous. The weather in Texas is awful. Compared to California, the weather in 99% of the United States is awful.

[@aptkeyboard3173]

We eliminated state run mental hospitals and now we have tons of mentally I’ll people living on the streets. I’m sure no one could have seen this coming 🙄

[@paulosbornept7523]

This is a result of the Carter Era. It was jusged illegal to involuntarily institutionalize the mentally ill. They released the mentally ill onto the streets and said good luck.

[@stischer47]

The closing of such institutions were closed on the idea that there would be services provided to them. But guess what? The first thing that was cut was services.

[@honkhonk8009]

B-b-b-ut Democrats told me it was ableist and very mean to not allow the mentally ill to roam free on the streets!!!!! What do you mean they just wanted to funnel the money to their own accounts instead of using it????

[@ClockworkWyrm]

@@stischer47 It's almost like the state run facility WAS the service!

[@karadanvers6136]

yeah thanks to stupid ronald reagan. that jerk in his bel air home.

[@bombero3368]

Wonder if the huge salaries of the non-profit CEO’s in California have anything to do with the perpetual homelessness issues?

[@jamesdellaneve9005]

Yes. I live here.

[@007kingifrit]

absolutely, fixing the problem would bankrupt them

[@DAWN001]

Poverty industrial complex

[@DAWN001]

I used to donate a lot to homelessness organizations. Now I check the CEO salary and throw out all the solicitation letters when I see big figures for “NON”profits

[@007kingifrit]

@@DAWN001 yea any non profit that goes on too long is going to become the opposite of what it started as

[@nunyabidness3075]

Every time I get into an affordable housing discussion, I make sure that people understand the government does not build affordable housing. It builds very expensive, subsidized housing which makes the crony builders and bureaucrats very happy.

[@glarusboi]

You referring to private single family homes? Because they’re heavily subsidized by the government.

[@nunyabidness3075]

@@glarusboi I was talking about homes built specifically for government affordable housing projects. Subsidized is a really bad term, it’s often misused. Are you referring to tax breaks, mortgage guarantees, or did you recently hear someone spreading the whole strong towns theory? People so love that theory, but it’s based on fallacies.

[@gauchoparaguayo]

Capitalism completely controls Government in the USA

[@usov656]

At this point, just saying California's problem is "worse" than in other places is an euphemism. It's WAY, WAY WORSE than in other places.

[@strayedarticle2838]

Because Red states bus their homeless there.

[@clista4]

I've been to Florida and California. I can tell you Florida's problem is worse, and there's no outreach. Most of the homeless are actually hiding in the woods for fear of being arrested.

[@MarkSturman]

One more HUGE factor not mentioned is weather. California is beautiful outside year round. People die outside here in Houston. It's pretty much impossible to live here without A/C.

[@tommyanomaly6193]

Yes that's an even bigger factor than anything they mentioned I believe.

[@us3rG]

That's the reason most travel to California.

[@philmorris8862]

I grew up in Houston without A/C. Massive A/C only began about 1960 to 1965.

[@knerduno5942]

@@philmorris8862 You probably lived in an old home with high ceilings. With A/C, ceilings went from 12 feet to 9 feet.

[@philmorris8862]

@@knerduno5942 Not at all. It was either apartments or a one story house with 8 foot ceilings. That is how nearly all people lived, except the wealthy. We slept with open windows and fans blowing once we could afford fans.

[@charlottemiller7675]

Last time I check, Eugene Oregon (the town I just moved out of after living in for 24yrs) has 456 per 10,000. It's a housing first city for sure. My husband is a carpenter and used to build them. The town is ruined. The whole west coast is. You can't imagine unless you see it yourself. The tent cities and the public drug use. It's just incredible. I bought a house and had to sell it so my daughter didn't grow up with ppl using drugs outside her window

[@Tential1]

Yup, it's why I'm leaving. I realize anyone staying here has bought into the ideology deeply and it's not a good place to meet people or start families.

[@TheValkryie]

I hear ya. I'm up here in Portland and we very well are aware of what Eugene has been going through too. After 30+ years, we are also leaving our city.

[@carissafisher7514]

Seems like you should have stayed and solved the problems?

[@bellagirlgirl8827]

@@carissafisher7514 you don't understand the magnitude of the problem. at some point it makes more sense to leave.

[@cheaserceaser]

Its not bad, that means 9500 per 10000 have homes. Homeless are tiny fraction of population and they are mostly peaceful and friendly. Why would you leave beautiful Oregon after 24 years and being a Democratic voter?

[@Enrique-Garcia]

Part of the problem is this whole "we can't force them to go into a shelter" state of mind. You don't have to put them in jail, just pick them up and put them in a housing program. If they're mentally ill, put them in a treatment program. A few years ago they did a massive sweep of the homeless near Angels Stadium in Anaheim, they went to each one and as they got them to move, they would offer them help: housing, drug rehab, everything. They'd ask them "what do you need" and based on those needs, they made appointments to see the correct people. Guess what? ALMOST NONE OF THEM SHOWED UP. I know a bunch of you are gonna cry "they have rights" but I'm of the mind that if you're going to be part of our society, you contribute to it (if you can) or you gotta go somewhere else, we can no longer afford to have rampant crime and violence and disease on our streets, on our public transit systems.

[@janeyorke835]

I wonder why? Did they follow up to understand why?

[@Enrique-Garcia]

@@janeyorke835 how are you supposed to follow up with homeless people?

[@ipodtouch470]

@@Enrique-Garciabro a few homeless people have cell phones

[@Enrique-Garcia]

@@ipodtouch470 from what I've heard, most of them don't have fully-functioning phones because they can't reliably pay the monthly fees; they mostly use the wi-fi instead. Either way, if you don't want to be helped, it's easy to ignore a call or an email.

[@TheFavoriteColors]

So essentially enslave them, force them to do pretty much whatever you feel like, well that ship has sailed

[@SeniaYam]

Excellent report on the issue! Thank you to everyone involved.

[@omaralvarado1080]

The good thing about Texas is that you could still move away from Austin, and find a very nice house in the other cities cheap. And away from traffic and a simple lifestyle.😊😊

[@vultureTX001]

@@robyee3325 you do realize the vast majority of drug related crime is centered around 5 metro zones in Texas right? The rest of the place does not have to worry about homeless like the Left Coast does.

[@TexasWench]

@@robyee3325 As someone who lives in rural small town TX away from the big cities...no...the odds of being broken into by a homeless tweaker is astronomically low. Sure...there are the occasional burglaries but not by the homeless...just your basic shithead criminal. We have ONE homeless guy in my town and everyone knows him, and tried to give him aid but he just likes living that way, nothing more.

[@JakeBaldwin1]

@@robyee3325 That's why you have a dog and a 12 gauge.

[@ZeriocTheTank]

As someone that lives in Austin currently this is something I plan on doing. My work will require me to be in town, but I don't want to live here anymore.

[@vultureTX001]

@@ZeriocTheTank The staff of a local Austin EV car dealership mostly live in Manor or Kyle. they don't like whats come of Austin.

[@drop_messages6226]

I have lived in California and Texas. When I lived in the suburbs outside of Dallas, I noticed there was a sense of pride and "this is my home" vibe. In Texas, the suburbs was for families. People sent their kids to safe schools, most people who live in Texas are from that county. Texas have state pride "Do not mess with Texas", and religion is popular. In other words, Texas, and states East of Texas have a sense of tradition. California is more hippie culture. If you are going to be a homeless bum, why not the Golden state and golden beaches? The weather is there, it has that "sit around and smoke weed down by the beach". California is expensive. Middle class people are leaving California's cities. The only Californians who do not complain about the cost of living, are the rich people. California has its class of pretentios itellectuals who think they are superior, because they one meet a southerner who said something a bit racist in the privacy of their own home. Meanwhile , California is too expensive, and has drug and homeless problems. Why does California have more homeless in Texas? If you want to live out doors, California has better weather. If you want free stuff, California has many government programs. If you are a drifter, with no purpose in life, California does not mind losing middle class people. If you hate following the rules of polite society, California is already filled with homeless and gangs, you can join them. Texas is more for families and people who care about tradition

[@tommyanomaly6193]

Theirs's certainly a cultural difference. I've always respected California's more independent streak since I'm a non-traditionalist even though I'm from and live in Texas. If California were more economically conservative it would be the perfect state.

[@ccormx]

@@tinselfect1559 Texas has the smallest government of ANY state. Things are done locally, because that’s what we believe in, small government. We believe in the US Constitution and the Texas Constitution. Y’all forgot about those. Now, the proof is in the pudding, California is losing tons of people, for awhile, and Texas has had exceptional population growth decade after decade. Math is math honey. God bless you.

[@ofbyforpeople1384]

simplistic stereotypes are not solving any problems. If you read the book "Nickeled and Dimed", you'll see that people can go to 3 different states, work 2 jobs but still not make it. it is a good insight someone had in this forum to identify those who can work and get them to housing to establish working lives again. some homeless need mental health services; if the homeless person is an addict, that's a whole different ballgame.

[@louiegonzales1407]

@@tommyanomaly6193 Calif. doesn't have school shooting, mall shootings real safe we don't want a fascist dictatorship.

[@strayedarticle2838]

Texas also has been bussing their homeless to California for decades.

[@melander0997]

I work with houseless and formerly houseless folks. About 15 years ago here in SF Ca we started running into a lot of people who are not from here but were given bus tickets or train tickets by their states officials telling them that we had a ton of resources and housing. Most of these folks came with multiple diagnoses. We were making a big dent in the problem before that.

[@TOMVUTHEPIMP]

I was one of them. I went to California for all the freebies and drug use tolerance.

[@noName-kn1lx]

And we will keep shipping the bums to your tolerant foolish state

[@SL-pg4dh]

It's the same thing Texas is doing with their illegal immigrants

[@Yourmom-cy5yv]

I live in cali, my mom is homeless. She is an addict and the prices for homes is expensive, it doesnt help that homless shelters literally only let u stay onlynto sleep there, its basiclly a free hotel that limits those to come. Police harrass them, its expensive to go to rehab, unless u have family to help ur done for here. My mom refuses help unlock others due to her addiction. She seems to be doing better i hope it stays that way

[@sevenandthelittlestmew]

I love how they completely skirted Dallas altogether in this segment. We have had so many problems with tent communities, primarily because of the lack of programs and outreach and the NIMBY mentality here. I lived in an area that had a high concentration of homeless, and I knew several of them personally. I had one ask me to contact his sister during a mental health crisis. I had one allow me to take him to the hospital when we talked and he told me his feet were getting bad as a result of diabetes. Being open to, and aware of the needs of, homeless in our community is crucial to their ability to get help as soon as they need it.

[@KingAsa5]

Fr tho

[@SwaggerLikeUz]

Seven And The Littlest Mew u forgot Dallas like Houston has been in the top 7 fastest growing cities for like the past 15 yrs or more. Don't forget Katrina either which open the flood gates via half a million Not to mention the Texas border deals with more migration daily & annually than any border in world. In one month 200,000 thousand even 2 million in one calendar yr. Thus byproducts of homelessness not always related to poverty but to "Open borders" policies enabling overcrowding, etc.

[@Wocajon]

Yep, and in their love for Houston, they also didn’t see fit to mention the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Harvey which was made much worse by the region’s being almost totally paved over!

[@nnbnbnn]

i was just thinking this. the reason we have less homeless in general is because of the weather, we shun them away, it's illegal to panhandle (in dallas) and we have HUGE nimby culture. kinda a ridiculous and wrong documentary IMO.

[@Cruznick06]

I do think some zoning laws are really important. Like preventing residential and industrial from being too close together. However I hate how often zoning forces businesses and housing apart.

[@notisac3149]

I especially dislike how some cities pretend that suburbs are the best for housing folks. In the Bay Area where I live, suburbs are everywhere despite having a housing crisis. The awful zoning here often guarantees that only single family homes can be built regardless of demand.

[@Ninjaeule97]

That was the original idea behind zoning laws. Most of the world decided to leave it at keeping industry away from housing, but for some reason, the US decided that wasn't good enough and opted for Euclidean zoning.

[@PJ-gm1hb]

As someone who used to live in a state with zoning laws and moved to a state without them, states *need* zoning laws, allowing a strip club or noisy daycare to be built directly next to an apartment complex or condo community should *never* be allowed.

[@ltsjoke5443]

ah yes, because only strip clubs and daycares are built in proper towns like everywhere else around the world. how could one forget.

[@PJ-gm1hb]

@@ltsjoke5443 don't know what you mean by that I was about next to residential areas not the types of towns they are in.

[@nurk_barry]

I’m a Houston resident. The only way that wealthy people will respond to the problem is if you make it hurt them. They simply don’t care, they just want it out of their face so they can pretend it doesn’t exist. Most people don’t actually care if their fellow man can survive and thrive, as long as they can maintain their standard of living it doesn’t matter.

[@staceylavon4284]

I was once homeless!! One thing I can say is that Texas takes care of veterans 👌🏽

[@seancosgrove1]

I'm glad to hear you're doing better!

[@mediterraneanworld]

The VA takes care of veterans NOT the state of Texas!

[@odigity]

I was born in LA in 1978, lived there in 2007. Went back a few years ago - it's not recognizable. It's a lost city, and is only going to get worse.

[@jc3745]

I was born there in 1958. Lived in the suburbs until 1976 when I joined the Army. Moved back after service in 1980 and stayed until I got married in 1992. Moved to Texas and stayed there because SoCal was headed down hill already with uncontrolled growth and no infrastructure to support it. Now I visit family occasionally and can't wait to get east of the Colorado River.

[@JasonJrake]

Alan Graham deserves more attention. I’m so happy to see Reason noticing his efforts.

[@petepal55]

I'm a homeless vet in the VA's VASH program. We're stuck with using HUD's Section 8 program and that means we have to live in a bad part of town for the most part. HUD pays over $1k/mo on my rent alone! Heck, with that kind of backing, I could practically build a home myself as I spent my youth in construction. My father was a trades instructor and retired military engineer. I have no doubt I could get students from the local state trade school he taught at to help with construction as part of their OJT. I'm an alumnus, I would think that should help. One of Dad's friends even offered to put a trailer on a plot of land and do a rent-to-own thing with me, but HUD's rules don't allow that. I can't imagine how much it's costing the VA to house all of us homeless vets, but w/o allowing for personal innovations and keeping us tied to HUD, we're going to stay tied to them 'til the day we die. Not to mention you have Fed inspectors, etc., all up in your 💩 all the time which is a little unnerving.

[@MarKRules]

After watching 1 Amendment videos, it was a very instructive moment to be able to take a quiet look at how this problem, the homeless, can be addressed here. We have similar abuses here in Belgium. This is another real journalistic work, getting to the bottom of it. With thanks and respect, Mark from Belgium.

[@Kawasaki496]

The real reason is because California Governor Newsom is to busy getting rich off his winery's than worring about the homeless 😂😂

[@AbsentMinded619]

He’s literally touring the Southern states right now, telling them how much better California is and trying to convince them to vote Democrat. Absolute clown show.

[@catholicfemininity2126]

He has his reward, I fear for his eternity when he dies. The rich who don't use what God allowed them to have, to help others......... booooy do they have a lot to answer for. I pray he repents.

[@BASED-SENSEI]

Lmao

[@rmdodsonbills]

Nonsense. Homelessness was a problem long before Newsom took office and is much bigger than the efforts of any one person's efforts or lack thereof.

[@Kawasaki496]

@@rmdodsonbills 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 what a joke

[@magaritaavila8535]

A few years back, California was advertising housing for the homeless. Lots of them from Texas moved there, looking forward to a nice place of their own. But they weren't warned about the restrictions, only the non-addicted being allowed. So California was flooded with homeless people looking for housing, and a lot of them got their own apartments, but others didn't due to their addictions.

[@vultureTX001]

California is trying for a 1to 1 ratio of 6figure salaried employees for every homeless. just check their "costs" to give aid across the various state,county/city budgets.

[@catholicfemininity2126]

Lord Jesus help them. Have mercy on us.

[@vultureTX001]

@karlwithak1835 "Last year’s Homekey effort marked the largest single addition of permanent housing in the state’s history, according to state housing officials. The average cost per unit for those projects was $147,974." you sure?

[@strayedarticle2838]

California didn't go state to state and advertise housing for the homeless. Officials in Texas have been bussing their homeless to California for years.

[@gauchoparaguayo]

​@@strayedarticle2838 Very true. Las Vegas NV police bus homeless chaps to San Francisco

[@victorbellew3759]

I live in Oregon and what I can say is this: A majority of the homeless in Oregon are from out of state. Most of the homeless won’t use the help and free housing provided because they’re required to not do drugs. This isn’t speculation. A inordinate number of homeless deal with mental health problems and refuse medication for things like schizophrenia. I can’t let my kids go into cities because of the homeless issues. They build camps in the trees and we find used needles on hiking trails all the time. States like Texas and Florida chase out the homeless that don’t comply and they end up here.

[@richardbocanegra5945]

Very enlightening, thank you .. this is excellent journalism.

[@tbrown6559]

What a bloody complex problem! I’m thankful for innovators trying to make a difference

[@trevoravery9270]

Its not a complex problem at, in any way, shape or form.

[@tbrown6559]

@@trevoravery9270 it's not ? It sure seems that way. What would the simple solution be?

[@trevoravery9270]

@@tbrown6559 1. Stop ALL Leftists policies . 2. Stop ALL Leftist policies. 3. Stop ALL Leftist policies. 4. Stop ALL Leftist policies. Problem solved, wow what a "complex" problem, good thing we have "innovators" to help with the problem.

[@meggrotte4760]

Yes, leftistist policies are the problem and always have been Constantly wasting money. Not forcing people to get help for their issues.

[@petarsulentic7181]

my wife and I are planning to move to the DFW area soon... didn't see any homeless in Dallas driving around and we weren't even planning on moving to an urban area. Texas is a wonderful state.

[@petarsulentic7181]

@@timetheory84 i assumed traffic would get worse. and i also assume that there will be parts of any major metro area that are ugly because that’s what happens naturally. the Texas Triangle has a ways to go before it comes crumbling down. but so long as the state government is structured the way that it is, things will be ok. keep government local.

[@paulgardner5079]

Im from Dallas and they have a huge homeless problem

[@petarsulentic7181]

@@paulgardner5079 what part of dallas?

[@redtiger7268]

They are over by Love Field in mass. That is where the majority of the free services are handouts are set up. Homelessness is getting worse in the metroplex. Once you live here you will see it, being a tourist it is easy to overlook.

[@paulgardner5079]

@@petarsulentic7181 Im originally from far west Oak Cliff, aka Mountian View area, but I lived in Northeast Dallas on Audelia and Walnut

[@JB-rh7zf]

Thank you for explaining the homeless problem. As everyone I have been wondering why homelessness seemed to worsen for a long time. I appreciate your channel’s intelligent reporting style.

[@QuiLe-qw5jb]

👍. Good works R TV. Thanks.

[@seanfager8063]

Andrew Heaton had an excellent interview with Alan Graham (the guy with the tiny home village) on The Political Orphanage last year. Very much worth checking out - the title was "The Best Tiny House Village In America"

[@aycaramba762]

I am thank you a

[@tashvadj4914]

I left CA for TX and never looked back.

[@stevenschnepp576]

Can't wait for you to keep voting left and wondering why Texas turns into a toilet.

[@Kyle-sr6jm]

Please do not move to Texas and vote Liberal.

[@aguerra41]

Thank for this very interesting and informative video. I had no idea and having lived in Portland 30 years, the homeless situation is impossible.

[@matt96920]

Please don't ever stop, Reason. These are great.

[@danzman101]

That is an amazing little village. I wish the inhabitants all the best

[@TOMVUTHEPIMP]

If its so amazing, why are you not living there?

[@davidclaiborne5280]

While working for a state bureaucracy that was funded by the largest federal bureaucracy in the world, I got acquainted with the director of a local homeless shelter pretty well. He came to speak to us a few times, and I was impressed by his clear-mindedness about the subject. One thing he said that stuck with me is, “homeless people go where the services are.” This is both a cause of, and solution to large populations of homeless people in a city. This for me largely explains why west coast cities have a large homeless population, while southern cities don’t have the same scale of problem.

[@littlerainyone]

Services? You mean like lax laws against theft under $300 and thriving fentanol markets?

[@SirBlackReeds]

Abolishing the 9th Circuit Court would certainly trim the problem down.

[@Mediiiicc]

They go to where the handouts are, prioritizing food.

[@chillyschleemies5026]

Homeless people go where their actions are tolerated. Big difference

[@jessemurray1113]

Seems they go to the convergence of services and tolerance of their actions.

[@chigal0926]

Excellent job!! Real journalism, shocker!!!

[@colin1818]

This is an excellent video. Glad that ReasonTV is doing actual journalism instead of whatever has replaced it on the big networks.

[@beaburt1996]

I love it, Community First Village is a truly great idea. So happy to see this ingenuity helping to give the homeless population a hand up, not a hand out.

[@tenkill]

Yep I agree. Community as family. great idea. We are all responsible for ourselves and therefore our communities. Everyone needs life skills.

[@barrydworak]

"Harm reduction" is the worst policy of all, as it makes the taxpayers into enablers of drug addiction and refuses to even entertain the idea of treatment, much less "no excuses" treatment.

[@barrydworak]

​@@hydroponichomesteader6852 the presence of Mexicans turns large numbers of random Americans into junkies? I lived by the border for decades and I never saw this happen. I don't think this excuse has ever been used by an addict, and that's saying something. There are many problems with the wilful neglect of border policies, but this isn't what creates addicts. And this doesn't differentiate CA and TX, in any case.

[@firstlast8258]

Drugs are bad mkay

[@Maxime_K-G]

Similar to the uncompromising housing-first approach to fixing homelessness, the federal government also focuses on car infrastructure as the only viable means of transportation in urban areas even though many constituents do not have access to cars because of age, costs, or medical disabilities.

[@vanessamixson2585]

Bless you all and may this concept grow I multiple directions.

[@crazyclimer]

Consider me cynical, but I am less than 20 seconds in to this video and find myself imagining Jay Inslee screaming, "But, what about Seattle! Why isn't a city in MY state included!?!" Poor, would-be-Emporer Inslee. I'll see where this goes-- and I'm sure I'll agree with it by the end-- but still... it seems that WA, OR, and CA are all in a competition as to which can be considered the most "progressive".

[@saddletramp5000]

When I lived in Seattle 1990-1994, there was an old hotel downtown that was re-purposed. The Moore I think? Anyway, the main floor was shopping and restaurants, the top floors were the hotel rooms used to house homeless. The deal was that they had to work in the retail stores and restaurants to pay for room and board. They were also given a paycheck minus rent dues. This did a few things. It gave them housing and a home address and it gave them current job experience. The tenants had a certain amount of time to find employment elsewhere. And since they had a physical address this was very easy to do. There were halfway houses that were the next step to get out of the hotel and out on their own. And just as important, it gave these massive structures that had been abandoned a new life. This program worked beautifully. The profits from the restaurants and retail went back into the program. 10 years ago I had gone back up to Seattle for my brother's wedding and when I was downtown I saw that the hotel was no longer being used for that purpose. Come to find out, the program no longer existed anywhere in the city. My brother often sends me photos of Seattle and all of the encampments that are growing and multiplying. The city isn't the beautiful place I remember. I'm not sure why they stopped giving them a hand up and just started giving them handouts, but it doesn't seem to be solving any of their problems. Sad.

[@rustynails8756]

Actually as a fellow Washington resident I am continually amazed at how, shall we say, short sighted and ill informed my fellow residents are. Just one example is voting Inslee in not once, not twice but three times. It seems the more educated they are the less common sense they have. I do chuckle when they vote in laws that are so bad they have to reverse them within one legislation session. Lots of cities are passing as far as they can anti camping and drug criminalization laws.

[@JC-dx3fy]

I've learned the word 'progressive' seems to have the same meaning as retarded.

[@TVAvnger]

I am a liberal Democrat and the progressives are extremists, not Democrats. Let's see how long this will last. Their support of gender ideology is not going to do them any good.

[@TVAvnger]

​@Saddle Tramp what happened to people who couldn't hold a job: the elderly and disabled, wheel chair, walker, limbs missing or both? Left on the street.

[@josechaves421]

The best doc I have seen on this issue ever. Well done.

[@JFK_DOMESHOT]

I’m in a suburb of Houston and as soon as they show up the police haul them off.

[@bradvansteinburg2962]

So do you have controls on how the homes are maintained in and out, kept clean, the area is kept up to have nice areas for these people to feel better in their part of tow.?

[@mwatercress]

$250,000-$300,000 per unit is nothing compared to California. $450,000-$990,000 per unit is what "stakeholders" have inflated costs here.

[@msharp6887]

That old man is a genius. Tricked everyone into thinking he gives a shit while cashing in

[@janeentumbao8690]

I've heard mixed stories about him. And did we hear about the other 2 rules??? But hey, this is still a capitalistic country and dealing with the poor is a multi billion dollar industry.

[@msharp6887]

@@janeentumbao8690 exactly

[@txroguenews]

In San Antonio, I live down the street and what HfH has done is made the area worse, because while few are serviced at HfH, most do not want to go there because they're drug addicts and/or don't want to follow any rules. So what happens is all of the people that are around there end up trying to prey on the people going to get services. Look at the crime around the area of HfH and that'll tell you a small part of the picture. Kim Jeffries has told me they spend 100k a year on security just for their small area, meanwhile all of the traffic of people going there comes through my street from Zarzamora, and much of it is drug related. In the past 4 years things have only gotten worse, and we're constantly on alert for crime as DA Joe Gonzales' Cite and Release has left the police with little to actually have any bite when it comes to deterring crime (because they reject prosecuting), so the criminals know they can repeat offend with no consequence. We've questioned him on this locally and given him our experiences of what his policies have done to our neighborhoods. Feeling good about volunteering at a location is one thing. But us residents aren't we're not elected here, and this isn't a shift job for us. We live here, and we can't even sell property because no one in their right mind will buy any based on just coming to the area and seeing what is around. Meanwhile property values are being inflated by the city because they want to overtake the area, so our property taxes have skyrocketed. We're stuck. Police can't help, Haven doesn't help, and as citizens if we try to correct issues we become the ones criticized by police or worse, end up breaking a law because we have had enough of the crime. Your documentary doesn't properly paint the picture of what really is going on.

[@alanolney3564]

Wishing more cities would do this for the homeless.

[@PoperoniNews]

This is Reason at their best. These reporting efforts are where you all thrive. This video is proof that the private sector will be the answer for homelessness as is for all other endeavors.

[@Objective-Observer]

If we were to return to strictly following the Constitution, ALL of our problems would go away, because the Government isn't supposed to do very much.

[@YouAreStillNotablaze]

The 'private sector" causes most of the problems. The government occasionally makes them worse, because we let them.

[@PoperoniNews]

@@YouAreStillNotablaze This video is explaining the entire time how the private sector is solving the problem the state fails to and you still say that dumb shit. Come on mate.

[@tommyanomaly6193]

@@YouAreStillNotablaze Only when "private sector" lobbies the government. It's still the government doing the dirty work.

[@peterwilkinson1975]

@@YouAreStillNotablaze most regulations are targeted at larger businesses but end up making it really difficult for the “small guy”. It’s like I can’t live in a trailer on land I own, it’s “safer” for me to be homeless.

[@jasoncramer6651]

Very informative video. The TL;DR is Texas knows how to solve problems that California prefers virtue signaling about.

[@pablodesilvestro831]

i love how you dont even mention the fact that Texas along with most states west of New York routinely pack their homeless into greyhound busses and just ship them west to get rid of them

[@astrladam4392]

Great piece. I have a MUCH better understanding of the issue. Very complex but this tells me that there are solutions if we are creative.

[@joannleichliter4308]

It's a combination of weather and public policy. Perhaps the federal government needs to get out of the housing for the homeless totally and reduce our taxes accordingly (lol); the one size doesn't fit all.

[@nobleroman1133]

It's one if not my greatest fear , becoming homeless , I was homeless for a short time when I was in my late 20s , but now I'm in my mid 60s with progressive neurological issues and solely dependent upon a social security check monthly , back when I was a young man I could get around and was working , I just don't know what I'd do in the event that I couldn't pay my bills , rents are increasing faster and higher than the cost of living adjustment from social security , and I don't have any family left , I stay to myself so I don't have friends I could depend upon if something happens , I can see and sincerely sympathize with people who become homeless for no reason except they can't pay their bills ,,,,,,, I've thought about it and always keep one option open , but I can't mention that here , but the Roman's of ancient times used it quite frequently in times of utter distress and hopelessness. It's great that something is being done in Texas but I think until something is undertaken nationwide that everything else is just putting a bandaid on an amputation. Sad to think that you work all your life and for one reason or another you become homeless and your forced to spend your senior years in the streets worrying about getting killed by younger thugs , or dying in some back alley from an illness you can't get help with,,,,,, THIS IS AMERICA IN 2023 MY BROTHER'S AND SISTERS

[@dariamancini963]

It's not you personally. Even with friends and family it's hard to feel comfortable in someone else's home for extended periods. You could stay for weeks, months even but then what. Your issues touch on the crisis in elder care. Most states are providing very inadequate care.

[@nobleroman1133]

@@dariamancini963 You got that right , when you get older or become disabled you're no longer part of the solution and paying into the system , you've now become part of the problem . There was a movie in the 70s that depicted the future in the 21st century , it was called Soylent Green , now some of it might be totally Syfy but one part was quite possibly the way some world governments could go , it had to do with euthanasia stations , when someone couldn't cope any longer they could simply go to one of these euthanasia stations and like a sick animal have themselves put to sleep for good , it may not be in my time but I'm almost certain that it's coming our way in some way, shape and form.

[@keilana6]

I am grateful to have senior housing with lower than average rent. However with inflation in all areas of life I often wonder how soon I could be joining the homeless community.

[@Lifetalk849]

Hey Nobleroman, I can't begin to imagine what your on-going struggles must feel like, except that it would be overwhelming...!!! Please do not resort to the Roman exit; your life is far too precious to be destroyed. Personally, I've lived far away from most family members (whom I love dearly) since age 18. One thing that has helped me tremendously (especially when I'm going through a particularly lonely or difficult life passage) has been participation in close knit, genuine & compassionate communities of faith. They're not always easy to find, but once you do, the relationships, camaraderie and support are pure gold. My dad (who survived the Great Depression) used to tell me that 10 true friends are always better than $10,000,000, and that being such a friend to others is a most worthy pursuit. I have no doubt that you will find these friends and a caring faith community if you search with your heart ("Look for a lovely thing and you will find it. It is not far. It will never be far." Sara Teasdale). Best!!!

[@nobleroman1133]

@@Lifetalk849 Thank you for your words of encouragement , I sincerely appreciate it.

[@sassynana5201]

This video leaves more questions than it provides answers. It certainly has a “glossed over the uncomfortable info” feel to it.

[@moonwillow7952]

Homeless people from all over the country go to the West Coast because of the mild weather. There’s a huge port off the coast of LA. Ask any truck driver and they will tell you that if you can get to a truckstop you can get to LA within just a few days.

[@DanielBjorndahl]

andy bales interview was a missed opportunity for the Sprung tents used by Rescue Mission that could house 120 at a cost of $1 million...or two units of Los Angeles housing...

[@ReasonTV]

Check out Zach Weissmueller’s other video about Sprung tents: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZLdiZKcmreGjZI

[@poleag]

I'm curious as to what percentage of California's homeless are actually from California and to what extent California's climate and homeless-friendly policies attract homeless people from all over the country. Without knowing this, we can't possibly begin to evaluate the effectiveness of a state's policies when it comes to preventing and reversing homelessness. The US is a huge country and people can freely move between states. For example, we don't know whether State A with few homeless people is chasing its homeless people away with harsh policies, harsh treatment by law enforcement, and one-way bus tickets, or if State B with lots of homeless people is actually doing a good job at preventing and reversing homelessness, but ends up attracting lots more homeless people in the process.

[@luigimrlgaming9484]

If someone is homeless why would they walk 500 miles to LA knowing that nothing is there for them.

[@myideas8548]

I think you have hit the nail on the head.. I live in a CA coastal town that is extremely liberal. The other towns (and States) send their homeless our way and the majority of residents of the town I live in do not push back because of unending "compassion" leaving us with thousands (literally) of homeless that we could never possibly afford to take care of. I have come down with a serious case of compassion fatigue. 50% of our police calls are directed towards the homeless leaving us with not enough police for normal policing. The ultra liberal people in our town will not vote to increase the police force leaving our town a crime ridden dump. I'm leaving as soon as I am able to find a suitable (more conservative) landing spot, hopefully with a harsher winter. This area has changed my political bent from one side of the isle to the other.

[@Vaelosh466]

As others have said this is a multifaceted problem. The solutions this video presents as working all seem to require residents to play by the rules of the shelter. As I recall Texas has a pretty strict drug policing attitude, so you would naturally have people who are either not addicted to drugs or want to break it stay in the shelters, which leaves a smaller number who want to sleep outside where they are free to use drugs. With fewer people in tent encampments the encampments are easier for the police to break up. So they presumably emigrate to tent cities in CA where they'll always have a supply and little enforcement, safety in numbers as it were.

[@luigimrlgaming9484]

@@Vaelosh466 And why do you want them doing drugs?

[@chubbiturtles9818]

So true California also has a lot of homeless support services which makes it easy to be homeless person in California.

[@Musiclandsuite]

Thank you, wonderful educational video.

[@MikyleChristian]

Just goes to prove how harmful nimbyism and restrictive zoning laws that California is famous for hurts us. If we really want to fight for a better future in our cities deregulation of the housing market is key!

[@theevermind]

Homelessness is like a fever. You won't succeed if you treat the fever--it's just the manifestation of a deeper problem that needs to be addressed. And there are several different possible underlying problems, each possibly needing different treatments. Homelessness is caused by job loss, drug use, mental health, a simple desire to be free of responsibility, etc. The treatment for each of these is different, so it is not possible to have a one-size-fits-all solution to homelessness--besides the obvious 'make them disappear.'

[@leftykeys6944]

Homelessness is also caused by evictions, job loss, and medical debt. Our socioeconomic system generates and perpetuates homelessness. As to the stereotype of the homeless drug addict, I would surmise that it's a question like the chicken or the egg. Did someone become addicted to drugs BEFORE homelessness, or BECAUSE of it?

[@carissafisher7514]

Also no affordable housing

[@honkhonk8009]

@@leftykeys6944 Combination of Drugs and the collapse of the family unit. I hate how people completely disregard basic social structures in this country, and then rage when all sorts of mental illness and psychotic shit ends up being the norm. Its impossible to live here in Vancouver, but because I got family, I can still live in my parents house until I'm finished college and I can move out. My friend is literally 25, works as a nurse full time, and still cant afford her own place. Its fucking insane.

[@leftykeys6944]

@@honkhonk8009 -- And I hate how people like you barge in and react to my comments like it's sort of a personal affront, just because I have a different take or approach the topic from a different angle or perspective. Excuse me sir, but that's all I have to say to you, except.... Honk honk, beep beep, bye BYE.

[@theevermind]

@@leftykeys6944 re: chicken & egg The same is questioned for mental illness. Do people wander off, drop out, & become homeless because of mental illness, or do they develop mental illness from living on the streets? It seems the obvious answer is "Yes." Absolutely people end up homeless because they have mental illness. That's the kind of thing that causes people to not be able to keep up a residence, bills, and overall responsibility. As for getting money, panhandling is something that even most mentally ill can do. Does being homeless, away from family support, without care, nutrition, protection from the environment, etc., cause mental illness or make it worse? Yes. Do people lose their homes, families, jobs, and ability to make good decisions because of drugs. Without question the answer is yes. Does being on the street, looking for escape/distraction, exposure to criminals, etc., lead people to taking drugs (or to do more/worse drugs). Also yes. Frankly the whole thinking in terms of causality acting in one direction is inherently flawed. Many (most?) social problems are vicious circles. The result of one part causes another part, which intensifies the first, which intensifies the other, and so on. Homelessness and mental illness go together. They feed on each other. Homelessness and drug use go together. They feed on each other. Homelessness and crime go together. They feed on each other.

[@MegaLokopo]

We also need to focus on building new cities from scratch with public transit and smart zoning as a top priority.

[@TOMVUTHEPIMP]

"Build a new city from scratch with public transit" Hahahaha! Yup. Need that $900 million public transit for the 17 residents of Boonieville.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@TOMVUTHEPIMP Why would you build a town that can only house 17 people?

[@OgdenM]

Sadly this isn't feasible. We'd either have to: A) Rip out the forests and make global warming worse? B) Put them in the desserts? And besides those, any new cities are gonna be for the rich and they will leave the rest of them to rot. Those are the two options in the country. Neither are good.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@OgdenM Deserts are a great place for cities, desalination and pipes are great tools. If you build a city large enough the poorest people will be able to move in for cheap as well, and if you don't build them big enough lots of rich people leaving a city will lower prices for any poor people that stay.

[@thomassokol8233]

I live in CA. And with the rising cost of everything here. Lot if people are one check away from being homeless. Smh

[@zagonzal]

People would probably be less NIMBY if there are laws that could guarantee the quality of people who live in these places. The fact that you can't make people work for food stamps or the fact that you can't make sure that people are staying off drugs and staying clean and the fact that all it takes is one relapse is what really freaks people out. It's all so insanely difficult to evict someone once they've moved in and started squatting. Just like any system you have to have some sort of quality control and you have to filter out the garbage or else it's just going to spread and infect everything around it.

[@erbol0011]

Housing first is developers first + bankers

[@hl1377]

Smoke your rent, live in a tent!

[@firstlast8258]

Biden’s America 🇺🇸

[@matthorrocks6517]

I remember when I first became homeless. On the way to the shelter I was offered drugs by about 30 people. I didnt even know the street names of them like black\clear and such. Once I got inside I was offered more drugs. I decided to sleep outside instead.

[@firstlast8258]

@@matthorrocks6517 drugs are bad mkay

[@mooners544]

@@robyee3325 Yes, whenever there is a problem it is always because of "muh Reaganism".

[@DaneyCdesigns]

Great production quality and I learned about how well Houston is able to handle their homelessness. As a former homeless person born in Dallas but was on the streets of LA, you left out the part where states would send homeless, exconvicts, and whoever they deemed undesirable to California. Also people flock to California because the weather is easier to deal with than the harsh summers and cold winters of Texas. It’s not an apples to apples comparison at all.

[@slypear]

Love this endeavour. Let's hope it works out for all those involved!

[@tomchittum8726]

"Homelessness has been shrinking for a decade" On what planet? BUZZ OFF!

[@alyssaoconnor]

There’s definitely some creative fixing of the stats going on there lol. They obviously think people don’t have eyes to look around and see for themselves how bad homelessness around the world has gotten.

[@ccormx]

Planet Houston, Texas.

[@jackwalsh9604]

would've liked to hear how Houston is also literally sinking into the ground because of the unrestricted urban sprawl

[@mattm7798]

Finally a good piece on this issue that actually mentions how big gov't actually ruins things. A major reason homelessness is so bad in CA is the gov't actually wants more people dependent on them, which mean more people will vote for them, keeping them in power.

[@the_dapper988]

Honestly the rent should be discounted if they stay drug free, required random drug test

[@saddletramp5000]

We should ask the down trodden if we can run tests to find out why they were never plagued by covid.

[@edie4321]

That's already been answered. It is because they are not inundated by the media. Most don't have phones or TV"s. It was a psyop. They know the power of our minds, it's time that we do. Let's unite , use our powers, and get this over with. We have the power!!!

[@stevenschnepp576]

They were. It just wasn't noticeable among all the other diseases.

[@edie4321]

@@stevenschnepp576, You mean it was nothing compared to being dope sick, aka withdrawal.

[@saddletramp5000]

@@stevenschnepp576 The homeless weren't masked or social distanced. They weren't focused on washing their hands and using sanitizer. If covid was as deadly as reported, the majority of our homeless population would have been completely wiped out. This isn't an anomaly. Either they have a much stronger immune system than the rest of the population, or we were all being lied to. It's one or the other. And my guess it's the latter.

[@benjamindover4337]

​@@saddletramp5000 because the whole thing was a hoax and a salem witch trial style public hysteria

[@orlandoarreola2977]

Just moved to San Antonio from Dfw, and was shocked with all the homeless in SA.

[@KingAsa5]

Would you ever move back to DFW?

[@pwu8194]

If I were homeless, I would not stay in Texas where it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I would get a greyhound bus ticket to either San Diego or San Francisco. Those two cities are very expensive to buy a house, but home price is not an issue for the homeless. They both have moderate winter and moderate summer. It's the best place to be for a homeless.

[@AvocadoRoyalty]

Texas is catching up to California & now that the uncontrollable appraisal districts over inflating values is beginning to hurt lower income home owners that initially bought a house 15 years ago well within their budget & then getting double or triple values & being hammered with the crazy house taxation here in Texas & it’s forcing people out of their homes they can’t afford the obscene property taxes & many rural areas are getting hammered hard too because of the urban sprawl & where a small 700/800 sq ft house bought 15-20 years ago for $75,000 +/- is now being slammed with appraisals of $225,000 & up, these folks are not on drugs, these folks are not lazy, these folks work & are lower income earners who for years & years & years lived in small sq ft homes out of the urban areas to be able to afford a home & now are being stomped out, it’s very troubling & concerning seeing this out of control inflation & out of control taxation if home owners here in Texas, so give it a couple years Texas could be a close second to California.

[@omaralvarado1080]

Glad I am a Texan so much stuff you could do here for innovation and success towards your future endeavors.

[@faheemabbas3965]

How’s the Californians moving into your state? “Don’t California my Texas” Sorry but they’re going to. And eventually you’ll have to move out to unfortunately. The first casualty in Texas was Austin.

[@Objective-Observer]

@@faheemabbas3965 Ehh. Austin has been Blue long before the Cali Retreat. Just one of the reasons their impromtu motto is: Keep It Weird, Austin. The large cities are Purple, sure, but they aren't the entire state, and they don't control the entire local governments. Plus, we have successfully added NO STATE INCOME TAXES TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION. Unlike other states, THE ENTIRE VOTING POPULACE MUST VOTE ON ANY CHAGES TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION. That change isn't going anywhere. Also, lol... MOST CALIFORNIANS CAN'T SURVIVE THE BULK OF THE TEXAS LANDSCAPE. It takes truly tough people to thrive in Texas. I agree, that we are infuriated that so many Progressives have moved here for the Job Market and the Excellent Business Market, and then try to push their progressive platforms into place. Without that State Income Tax, they don't have a discretionary fund to exploit and acutally push those measures through. Texans are confident and proud of their heritage; and they are NOT AFRAID to fight for their beliefs. Did you know that Texas had the first town to try Common Core? Before ANYONE KNEW WHAT COMMON CORE WAS, AN EASTERN CITY ADOPTED IT, AND DID NOT TELL THE PARENTS. WITHIN WEEKS, The PARENTS CONVENED AND SUED THE DISTRICT TO REMOVE IT, BEFORE THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR.

[@Objective-Observer]

@TheSysops666 Yes, it was a Success Story, but it was an entirely Private Org that succeeded, and they had to be outside the city limits. So, not Austin the City.

[@Objective-Observer]

Ah, the comment I responded to has been deleted.

[@rosgill6]

We don't allow it nor encourage it to get as bad as California

[@dmoran57]

Based on my travel experience, you can be comfortable outside year round night or day in those Cali cities. Everywhere else you will literally die or wish you were dead from heat or cold.

[@TheresNoMorePrivacy]

The key to things is balance. The government needs to promote things, but they need to allow enough room for people and organizations to develop their own plans and methods of reaching that goal.

[@NA-oo4ls]

How can anyone say “free permanent housing” with a straight face?

[@nateb4543]

When they get an inflated contract along the way

[@39Chevy]

Damn the HUD building looks like it was designed by Omni Consumer Products.

[@Stevarooni]

In a post-capitalist world, aesthetics are bourgeois corruption.

[@kofxeno1657]

I heard this many times in high school life as a teen, everyone has a big dream to move to California to become an actor, singer, finding good jobs etc after graduate high schools. But years later, some do success but most of them…well hit rock bottom hard and couldn’t take it and move else where. What happen to whole “California Dreams” everyone want turn out is a nightmare.

[@snakeplissken3063]

Wouldn't it be more efficient to build large multi-unit buildings outside the city? You could provide all the services that homeless people need without the expense and blight of building it downtown.