public lands not available for homeless people?

[CThunder-blue]

I don't understand it. If the land is considered "public" land, then shouldn't homeless people be allowed to stay if they aren't being a nuisance? Lots of people who have lost their jobs were normal tax payers. Those taxes went to the upkeep of some of that land, but now that they have nowhere to go, shouldn't they be allowed to stay there?

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011...city.cnnmoney/

[alex.s]

its probably squatting laws. if you stay on land long enough, that land is yours. people who don't want that to happen have to kick you off their land for at least one day every so often (i forget how long it is... maybe a year... maybe longer)

[CynicalC]

There is so much wrong with this. First of all you do realize you don't just go from being unemployed to homeless overnight. You have to suck at life for that to happen. And I wonder why that sweet old lady is missing her front teeth. I bet it has nothing to do with the crack she smokes.

So that being public land, would you feel comfortable going on a walk there with your kids or s/o? Perfectly safe right?

And lastly, it obviously isn't a matter of paying taxes. Else you think the city wouldn't mind if it were taxpayers setting up tent cities in the woods and not just the homeless...

[CThunder-blue]

Latest reports show it takes on average, 9 months to find a new job if you have been laid off. You do realize it takes time to find a new job in this climate right? Look at Ammocan as a typical example of this. No, you don't go homeless overnight, but you also don't go out and get a new job overnight either. My brother in law just lost his job this past week. Many places he's submitting resumes to are telling him he is over qualified. His last position was VP of IT, but the company decided that they were goin to consolidate the different child companies and the vp of another region got the only VP position created. The rest of the IT management is either gone or outsourced.

There's nothing flawed except your reasoning. When you get laid off and don't have any insurance, it's not hard to imagine not seeing a dentist may see you lose some teeth.

[CynicalC]

Originally Posted by CThunder-blue

Latest reports show it takes on average, 9 months to find a new job if you have been laid off. You do realize it takes time to find a new job in this climate right? Look at Ammocan as a typical example of this. No, you don't go homeless overnight, but you also don't go out and get a new job overnight either. My brother in law just lost his job this past week. Many places he's submitting resumes to are telling him he is over qualified. His last position was VP of IT, but the company decided that they were goin to consolidate the different child companies and the vp of another region got the only VP position created. The rest of the IT management is either gone or outsourced.

Oh hey, you un-ignored me

In fact, I have personally been in the position of finding a job in the current market, as well as watching friends and family struggle in the same position. I've even been called "overqualified". It's a learning experience. You will learn pretty quickly how to avoid that situation.

I'm not saying that I do everything perfectly, I was unemployed for about 5 months when I moved to California. That was unexpected. But I was never in any danger of becoming homeless. I don't think the two are as closely related as you might think. Any halfway responsible and willing person can keep it from happening to themselves. It's a very long fall from unemployment to homelessness and there are a lot of branches to grab onto on the way down.

Do you think your brother-in-law is at any risk of ever becoming homeless just because he's now unemployed? (I doubt it.)

Anyway, getting a little off topic already... Do you think it's ok for the homeless to be setting up shop in a public space like that? What if it was near a school or a playground? What if it was near your house?

[CThunder-blue]

I'm not saying they should be able to set up shop wherever they please, but if you look in the video, they're out of sight in the woods. Maybe it's time cities should focus less on what is "against city code" and more on what it's citizens need. I remember a year or two ago when a huge tent city popped up just outside of sacramento. Even though it wasn't against it's code, Schwarzzennegger also took into consideration those people just didn't have any where else to go.

Also, when you have someone on ignore, you have the option of still reading individual posts without removing them from the ignore list

[Apex]

I like turtles.

[CynicalC]

Originally Posted by CThunder-blue

I'm not saying they should be able to set up shop wherever they please, but if you look in the video, they're out of sight in the woods. Maybe it's time cities should focus less on what is "against city code" and more on what it's citizens need. I remember a year or two ago when a huge tent city popped up just outside of sacramento. Even though it wasn't against it's code, Schwarzzennegger also took into consideration those people just didn't have any where else to go.

It might be out of the way for most, but it's obviously some kind of hiking or horseback trail. If it was truly out of the way, nobody would know about it. The city wouldn't be trying to move them and the news wouldn't be there making a story out of it. So it must have been in the way enough for someone to care. "Codes" are in place for a reason. Nothing good can come of a tent city. Only bad. Drug use, and crime. Think about it this way, the city is being proactive about it instead of waiting for a hiker to be mugged or raped. I think you can imagine what the public outcry would be then. "Why did the city know about this and not do anything about it?"

So what did Schwarzenegger do about it, ultimately?

Originally Posted by CThunder-blue

Also, when you have someone on ignore, you have the option of still reading individual posts without removing them from the ignore list

Oh that's just too convenient!

[Snake]

I also like turtles.

[Sailariel]

Me too.

[CThunder-blue]

Turtles kinda smell though... the ones kept in an aquarium.