60 minutes homeless crisis ideas for Seattle

[Matt Higgins]

Just watched the 60 minutes special on the homeless crisis. Very concerning when you realize that we are part of the problem. To keep our business profitable we absolutely have to screen tenants for felony’s, rental history, etc. so what can we do?

What about recovering attics? How long should we go back for evictions? Should we try to set a property aside as our “take a chance on someone” unit.

Especially this time of year that was a tough show to watch. Does anyone out there have any ideas or practices in their business to help solve the problem?

[Greg M.]

Snowflakes may want to skip this post for fear of having their feels hurt.

Step one would be to cut the bull **** about these people.

Let's stop pretending that they are all mentally ill. Estimates of mental illness among homeless seem to range from 25% to 45%. That's of any mental illness. Does your tenant require an ESA? They suffer from mental illness too! Feeling a little down? You suffer from mental illness! Nowadays everyone suffers from some sort of mental illness - well, everyone except the hardworking taxpayers that have to support this bull ****. Estimates are that 25% of all adults in the US have some form of mental illness and that in your lifetime you have a 1-in-2 chance of developing at least one mental illness.

Let's stop pretending that the cost of living is too high and that is why they are homeless. If you can't afford to live in the highest priced cities in the world, then MOVE. You have no right to live here any more than you have the right to have a Ferrari or drink Dom Perignon Champagne. Right now Ames, Iowa has the lowest unemployment in the US at 1.5%. Cost of living in Ames is around 7% below the national average. Why aren't the homeless flocking there to secure work and cheap cost of living? Could it be that they don't want to work and instead would prefer to leach off the progressive policies of the coasts?

Let's stop electing feel good politicians just because they have a D next to their name on the ballot. This is not a political statement, this is just pure fact: Progressive policies have completely failed and until they stop implementing them or until the voters stop electing the same type politicians, there will be no meaningful change.

Let's stop talking about building shelters. The current shelters are empty. There is story after story of government workers going to the homeless camps and offering them a bed in the shelter. Only one or two people will take up the offer. The homeless don't want shelters. Shelters have rules, no drugs, curfews, etc. That isn't what the homeless want.

Let's stop talking about building new housing and affordable units. It's a feel good joke that is being played on the stupid people in exchange for votes. Let's just be honest about it. We're not going to build new housing because the current infrastructure can't support much more. Also, the existing homeowners don't want it and if the politicians tried to put through any meaningful changes, the homeowners would fund their opponents campaign at a 100-to-1 margin. As for affordable housing, no one wants to live next to a building with 200 low income tenants. Yes, that may sound snobbish, but it is the truth. No one wants to spend $750,000 on a home in a decent area to have a giant apartment building put up next door with hundreds of people who shouldn't be able to afford to live in that area. You can say I'm a horrible person for saying that out loud, but the fact is that when it comes down to it, the majority of people living there feel the same way. They're all progressive and for helping the vulnerable low income, until the point it actually impacts them.

What we are seeing is a lifestyle choice. It's the new hippie generation. I just wanna live free and under the open air and the government can give me money for food and a free cell phone and a place to bathe and I can spend the days making a couple hundred dollars panhandling and buy my drugs and do them out in the open. Life is good man....

Time to stop pretending and time to start cracking heads.