Austin Homeless Free for All Ordinance

[Guest]

Quote

The number of 3-1-1 calls related to homeless encampments or people experiencing homelessness on parkland

Interesting linguistic tango here. So it is person experiencing homelessness -- not homeless person. Ok, it's wordy and awkward to say, but I can see that it sounds more respectful. But in the same sentence you call them homeless encampments. Shouldn't that be encampments for people experiencing homelessness?

"The number of 3-1-1 calls related to encampments of people experiencing homelessness or people experiencing homelessness on parkland..."

[Texas Jeff 1930]

10 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Interesting linguistic tango here. So it is person experiencing homelessness -- not homeless person. Ok, it's wordy and awkward to say, but I can see that it sounds more respectful. But in the same sentence you call them homeless encampments. Shouldn't that be encampments for people experiencing homelessness?

"The number of 3-1-1 calls related to encampments of people experiencing homelessness or people experiencing homelessness on parkland..."

I believe the preferred term is "encampments experiencing people experiencing homelessness"

[Biff Tannen 45439]

I noticed the area at 290 and Airport has pretty much been cleaned up.  I don't venture down south much anymore, but I guess it's still pretty bad.

I drove by the State Hospital yesterday on Lamar and they are finally really expanding it.  Has there been mention of whether that has the capacity to help make a dent in the homeless population?  

[Macklemore 2904]

Has the Austin City Council ever given a legitimate answer as to why they followed the example of LA, SF and Seattle when it comes to dealing with the homeless as opposed to following the Houston model of housing first and getting these people into permanent housing. How can anyone truly be “progressive” by supporting a repeal of the camping ban which only encourages and exacerbated these encampments. The Houston city government is not buying former hotels/motels at ridiculously inflated prices for a measly number of rooms as the answer to homelessness. Is it pure ego - we’re Austin and our peer cities are Portland, SF and Seattle and we’ll follow their lead as opposed to Houston or is it really all about a real estate grift.

[ChickenSandwich 9795]

4 hours ago, Macklemore said:

Has the Austin City Council ever given a legitimate answer as to why they followed the example of LA, SF and Seattle when it comes to dealing with the homeless as opposed to following the Houston model of housing first and getting these people into permanent housing. How can anyone truly be “progressive” by supporting a repeal of the camping ban which only encourages and exacerbated these encampments. The Houston city government is not buying former hotels/motels at ridiculously inflated prices for a measly number of rooms as the answer to homelessness. Is it pure ego - we’re Austin and our peer cities are Portland, SF and Seattle and we’ll follow their lead as opposed to Houston or is it really all about a real estate grift.

San Antonio for me but point stands 

[We’reTexas 1467]

6 hours ago, Macklemore said:

Has the Austin City Council ever given a legitimate answer as to why they followed the example of LA, SF and Seattle when it comes to dealing with the homeless as opposed to following the Houston model of housing first and getting these people into permanent housing. How can anyone truly be “progressive” by supporting a repeal of the camping ban which only encourages and exacerbated these encampments. The Houston city government is not buying former hotels/motels at ridiculously inflated prices for a measly number of rooms as the answer to homelessness. Is it pure ego - we’re Austin and our peer cities are Portland, SF and Seattle and we’ll follow their lead as opposed to Houston or is it really all about a real estate grift.

SF, LA, Seattle and Houston are all Housing First cities (Housing First is actually the official policy of California and HUD). It is a great question as to why only Houston and Utah have been success stories, but I suspect it has to do largely with the cost of housing, zoning, and NIMBYism. 

[CooterBrown 17851]

Saw this guy at the bus stop across from the gimp H‑E‑B on Burnet.

I’m gonna go out in a limb that he won’t stop panhandling for $200.

[ChickenSandwich 9795]

What happened 6 days ago?

[CooterBrown 17851]

What happened 6 days ago?

He was medically disabled.

[Wally Pryor 5236]

Discount loving this. 

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/man-caught-on-camera-slashing-puncturing-tires-in-east-austin-neighborhood-arrested

[Asithappens 974]

2 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

Discount loving this. 

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/man-caught-on-camera-slashing-puncturing-tires-in-east-austin-neighborhood-arrested

Damn. Half surprised that guy wasn't shot and killed for that.

[David Dennison 18487]

On 12/28/2021 at 8:01 PM, We’reTexas said:

SF, LA, Seattle and Houston are all Housing First cities (Housing First is actually the official policy of California and HUD). It is a great question as to why only Houston and Utah have been success stories, but I suspect it has to do largely with the cost of housing, zoning, and NIMBYism. 

This. Bougie liberals who don't want poor people living anywhere near them are just as complicit as mean ol' conservatives.

[Deej 76396]

1 hour ago, Asithappens said:

Damn. Half surprised that guy wasn't shot and killed for that.

People who would shoot you for that are becoming rare in East Austin. 

[Wally Pryor 5236]

2 hours ago, Asithappens said:

Damn. Half surprised that guy wasn't shot and killed for that.

I think he got locked up. Which in Travis County means that he'll be out in 24 hours, tops, and 30 more cars will get hit before the end of the weekend. 

[ChickenSandwich 9795]

Big Tire strikes again. 

[Biff Tannen 45439]

6 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

Discount loving this. 

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/man-caught-on-camera-slashing-puncturing-tires-in-east-austin-neighborhood-arrested

 

6 hours ago, Asithappens said:

Damn. Half surprised that guy wasn't shot and killed for that.

He got my friend's car.  Hope that fucker gets catapulted out of town.  You don't fuck with people's automobiles.

[Deej 76396]

9 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

You don't fuck with people's automobiles

 

[Wally Pryor 5236]

44 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

 

 Hope that fucker gets catapulted out of town.  You don't fuck with people's automobiles.

Catapulted out of town for committing this shit? In Austin? 

The dude's punishment after leaving jail right away will be that he doesn't get a popsicle from Delia Garza. 

[Guest Lobo]

Maybe he could bunk with the rock thrower.  swap car demo stories.

[McFly 606]

Has any news reported his name?

[Deej 76396]

City removes homeless camp near Lady Bird Lake, body found nearby

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/city-removing-homeless-camp-near-lady-bird-lake/

[Guest]

Didn't someone talk on here about how there used to be boarding houses, etc. as cheap spots to stay and how those have gone by the wayside? For some reason that's stuck with me. For those people on the edge, there is just nothing really available. If you're stable, have a job, etc., then you can rent an apartment. If not, then it's a tent or a car or pay huge prices for a hotel room. The renting a room thing for a few weeks is gone.

Then there seems to be a segment that's hit hard by drug use and mental health and it's just a fucking awful situation. Just seems like an unwinnable battle.

 

[David Dennison 18487]

Just now, FirstTimeCaller said:

Didn't someone talk on here about how there used to be boarding houses, etc. as cheap spots to stay and how those have gone by the wayside? For some reason that's stuck with me. For those people on the edge, there is just nothing really available. If you're stable, have a job, etc., then you can rent an apartment. If not, then it's a tent or a car or pay huge prices for a hotel room. The renting a room thing for a few weeks is gone.

Then there seems to be a segment that's hit hard by drug use and mental health and it's just a fucking awful situation. Just seems like an unwinnable battle.

 

The issues you outline are why many on the left want to make housing a right.

[Guest]

Just now, David Dennison said:

The issues you outline are why many on the left want to make housing a right.

And those on the right want to make housing a left?

Joking aside, I don't really know what "housing as a right" means. The government builds projects? Rent vouchers? 

I'm interested in why renting a room has gone away. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33779]

Just now, FirstTimeCaller said:

And those on the right want to make housing a left?

Joking aside, I don't really know what "housing as a right" means. The government builds projects? Rent vouchers? 

I'm interested in why renting a room has gone away. 

yes. it would require a more concerted effort at all levels of government. take a look at Vienna. I think a system like that could work really, really well here. That is of course if everyone in charge could simultaneously take their heads out of their asses

[David Dennison 18487]

2 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

And those on the right want to make housing a left?

Joking aside, I don't really know what "housing as a right" means. The government builds projects? Rent vouchers? 

I'm interested in why renting a room has gone away. 

https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/AG-2021/01-06_Housing-Human-Right.pdf

I'm not sure what the current status of boarding houses is, but I did find an interesting article that includes a little history.

https://www.chicagomag.com/real-estate/July-2020/Boarding-Houses-Are-Back-Baby/

[Asithappens 974]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

City removes homeless camp near Lady Bird Lake, body found nearby

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/city-removing-homeless-camp-near-lady-bird-lake/

 

Only one body?

[David Dennison 18487]

On 12/28/2021 at 8:01 PM, We’reTexas said:

SF, LA, Seattle and Houston are all Housing First cities (Housing First is actually the official policy of California and HUD). It is a great question as to why only Houston and Utah have been success stories, but I suspect it has to do largely with the cost of housing, zoning, and NIMBYism. 

 

[crash_davis 23076]

Here's a pic of one of the removed camps. How can that fuckstick be allowed to accumulate that much shit when there's ban on camping now. Oh wait...fuck Greg Cesar.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2440818,-97.7215705,3a,25.4y,14.08h,86.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scgsf6-AgTQYMYsQVeE7Itg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e1

After

Before.  Notice the nice shitter prob dumping directly into the lake. Per Reddit, last week he had for sale sign for a washer. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by crash_davis

[Guest Lobo]

This should be enough to drive Casar's Congressional election into the fucking ground.  But he just got a huge influx of dark money (curious move for such a progressive leftist) from out of state.  And because hard-left Austin would like Greg representing us in D.C., he'll probably beat Eddie Rodriguez who is honest, smart, and has this weird thing called integrity.  Anyway, another topic for another thread.  

But I dumped a bunch of financial shit about Casar on Eddie's lap to run against him with this primary.  But Eddie, rightfully, told me it would look like they were debating too much local crap when the race should be about statewide and federal issues.  I think it was really that Eddie didn't want to drag his opponent through the mud, even though that's where Casar belongs.

Greg Casar is a fraudulent, narcissistic, corrupt, piece of human shit.  Also spoiler alert for those of you that worship at his altar...he's not that fucking bright either.  I thought when I started meeting with him that he'd be shitty and naive, but intelligent.  He's not.  He's shockingly average in everything he does except grift.  Fuck him and fuck every single Austin shithead who has let him get this far.  He's fucking worse than Adler because at least Adler has the decency to act towards you in the same way he actually feels about you-indifferent and tacit hubris.  Casar bothers to go through the whole charade of "woke man of the people, trying to help my people, always fighting for the downtrodden." Complete and utter bullshit, if you haven't seen it after all these years...go choke on a homeless cock.

[Guest]

Yeah, amazed that Casar has any political career after the homeless debacle. 

And his growing of a beard/ponytail and then starting to go by "Gregorio" is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Whoops... looks like he is back to Greg now.

Edited February 24, 2022 by FirstTimeCaller

[Guest Lobo]

He's quickly taking on the look of douchebag at party who starts every sentence with, "You seem like an intelligent person, but..." and finishes every conversation with, "Well I respect your opinion, but I guess I just feel things more deeply than other people..." 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33779]

If anyone wants to talk actual solutions instead of bitching, this is a good article to start with:
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_article_011314.html

I'll try to dig up the article that first brought this to my attention a few years back - but I can't remember which publication it was 🤣 It goes into a lot more detail about how the program actually works

[ChickenSandwich 9795]

3 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Yeah, amazed that Casar has any political career after the homeless debacle. 

And his growing of a beard/ponytail and then starting to go by "Gregorio" is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Whoops... looks like he is back to Greg now.

Grifter, never had a real job, trying to secure a lifetime in politics. Fuck him

[Wally Pryor 5236]

We'll have camping again before long under the Manchaca bridge. We're going on a year since the vote. Camping is still everywhere along with the filth and garbage.

Just a big fuck you from the wet rag mayor.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Wally Pryor

[David Dennison 18487]

Watson 2.0 should be interesting.

The dream of the '90s is alive in Austin.

[mchookem 15879]

14 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

We'll have camping again before long under the Manchaca bridge. We're going on a year since the vote. Camping is still everywhere along with the filth and garbage.

Just a big fuck you from the wet rag mayor.

up north in my neck of the woods they seem to have successfully cleared out most of the largest camps... 183 at Ohlen, Burnet, Braker, and Oak Knoll had all been cleaned up. last time I was around the Airport/290(2222) area the embankment had been cleared.

[RomaVicta 29704]

On 12/28/2021 at 1:51 PM, Macklemore said:

Has the Austin City Council ever given a legitimate answer as to why they followed the example of LA, SF and Seattle when it comes to dealing with the homeless as opposed to following the Houston model of housing first and getting these people into permanent housing. How can anyone truly be “progressive” by supporting a repeal of the camping ban which only encourages and exacerbated these encampments. The Houston city government is not buying former hotels/motels at ridiculously inflated prices for a measly number of rooms as the answer to homelessness. Is it pure ego - we’re Austin and our peer cities are Portland, SF and Seattle and we’ll follow their lead as opposed to Houston or is it really all about a real estate grift.

No. You seem to have a bias in play here.

On 2/23/2022 at 10:03 AM, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

yes. it would require a more concerted effort at all levels of government. take a look at Vienna. I think a system like that could work really, really well here. That is of course if everyone in charge could simultaneously take their heads out of their asses

Yes. Competence in a unified effort is difficult to come by when addressing a problem like this. I'm looking forward to reading the Vienna article, because I have no clue about what to do about the homeless and the myriad reasons for being homeless.

[RomaVicta 29704]

On 2/24/2022 at 10:51 AM, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

If anyone wants to talk actual solutions instead of bitching, this is a good article to start with:
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_article_011314.html

I'll try to dig up the article that first brought this to my attention a few years back - but I can't remember which publication it was 🤣 It goes into a lot more detail about how the program actually works

Great article. Thanks L_H68. 

The public housing the US built in the 60s seemed almost punitive in their prison-like appearance and immensity. You get the feeling that our delusions about bootstraps created a faction that didn't want "anything fancy" for these deadbeats.

The Vienna plan creates social integration instead of concentrated poverty. It provides surroundings where one doesn't feel depressed just waking up in them.

The article reveals that is was started in the early 20th Century by a socialist government. In the present state of political discourse here in the USA sector of Idiot World, That's enough generate instant resistance. If we adopt the term social housing, strike two. This big-hearted, Christian, self-congratulating, NIMBY bleeding heart will balk altogether at the notion that a person without a home might be provided one with nice windows, lots of light, and maybe even a view of something other than a concrete parking lot or highways.

I don't know if the model in Vienna works because it was started so long ago when the city apparently owned a lot of land. Thus, I don't know the diffulties of starting a plan like this in an American city.

[elfenix 34161]

On 2/23/2022 at 9:56 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

Didn't someone talk on here about how there used to be boarding houses, etc. as cheap spots to stay and how those have gone by the wayside? For some reason that's stuck with me. For those people on the edge, there is just nothing really available. If you're stable, have a job, etc., then you can rent an apartment. If not, then it's a tent or a car or pay huge prices for a hotel room. The renting a room thing for a few weeks is gone.

Then there seems to be a segment that's hit hard by drug use and mental health and it's just a fucking awful situation. Just seems like an unwinnable battle.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy

[TurkeyChew 383]

54 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Great article. Thanks L_H68. 

The public housing the US built in the 60s seemed almost punitive in their prison-like appearance and immensity. You get the feeling that our delusions about bootstraps created a faction that didn't want "anything fancy" for these deadbeats.

The Vienna plan creates social integration instead of concentrated poverty. It provides surroundings where one doesn't feel depressed just waking up in them.

The article reveals that is was started in the early 20th Century by a socialist government. In the present state of political discourse here in the USA sector of Idiot World, That's enough generate instant resistance. If we adopt the term social housing, strike two. This big-hearted, Christian, self-congratulating, NIMBY bleeding heart will balk altogether at the notion that a person without a home might be provided one with nice windows, lots of light, and maybe even a view of something other than a concrete parking lot or highways.

I don't know if the model in Vienna works because it was started so long ago when the city apparently owned a lot of land. Thus, I don't know the diffulties of starting a plan like this in an American city.

Difficulties could be summed up with 1) money and 2) people in a public sector role with the ability to execute such a strategy as you suggest, without a blank check (see #1) and a modest budget. 

The answers are always painful in the short-term with a promise of pain-relief in the longer term. Those sorts of visions and policies take a special personality to marshal them and for the populace to have a faith in their leaders/government that is nearly non-existent from most people with finite resources/money and eyes/ears that have seen what government and politicians are capable of the last few decades.

In my opinion.

Edited March 24, 2022 by TurkeyChew

[Longhorn_Fan68 33779]

55 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Great article. Thanks L_H68. 

The public housing the US built in the 60s seemed almost punitive in their prison-like appearance and immensity. You get the feeling that our delusions about bootstraps created a faction that didn't want "anything fancy" for these deadbeats.

The Vienna plan creates social integration instead of concentrated poverty. It provides surroundings where one doesn't feel depressed just waking up in them.

The article reveals that is was started in the early 20th Century by a socialist government. In the present state of political discourse here in the USA sector of Idiot World, That's enough generate instant resistance. If we adopt the term social housing, strike two. This big-hearted, Christian, self-congratulating, NIMBY bleeding heart will balk altogether at the notion that a person without a home might be provided one with nice windows, lots of light, and maybe even a view of something other than a concrete parking lot or highways.

I don't know if the model in Vienna works because it was started so long ago when the city apparently owned a lot of land. Thus, I don't know the diffulties of starting a plan like this in an American city.

It requires more people to invest in land trusts rather than buying land for profit. And also using publicly-owned land for more than parks and disc golf courses.

[3adays 454]

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/man-attacked-killed-by-dog-in-south-austin/269-54f82851-d3e0-4b8a-a136-b1782a506906

 

[Wally Pryor 5236]

Fucking comical idiocy. The COA tribe bought Candlewood at 3x market value to "house the homeless".  And now it will need another 6 figures, minimum, to restore the place as the idiots don't even know how to fucking secure the place before the bums move in. 

And Kelly is to be relied upon to handle this?

Dear lord.

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/austin-city-councilmember-speaks-out-break-ins-vandalism-candlewood-suites

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gsoda3 3214]

a guy playing in a softball tournament this past weekend at krieg got stabbed by a homeless person living in the encampment next to the park.  he survived but they couldn't find the perp.  apparently austin parks and rec is considering closing krieg indefinitely.  i was talking to someone from austin p&r last night which is how i first found out and then confirmed it with a friend who's on the same 503c board as i am (we use krieg and a bunch of other fields around centex).  it caught me by surprise b/c i hadn't seen or heard anything about it.

[CooterBrown 17851]

Do you mean just the softball fields or the entire park? That’s a huge, well developed park and sports complex. It’d be crazy but not unexpected the city would just hand it over to the bums.

[B00M 6248]

22 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

a guy playing in a softball tournament this past weekend at krieg got stabbed by a homeless person living in the encampment next to the park.  he survived but they couldn't find the perp. 

Holy shit. Need details

[gsoda3 3214]

Holy shit. Need details

I still can't find any media coverage on it but apparently I have a mutual friend with the stabbing victim's daughter. Sounds like he was stabbed after the last game was played Saturday night around 1am as everyone was cleaning up. An eyewitness said the homeless come out of the woods around that time to claim overnight spots.

There's a demonstration? Rally? Scheduled for 11am today at Krieg and there's supposed to be a presser.

Here's the daughter's post.

[David Dennison 18487]

They. Infest.

Wow.

[Eskimohorn 5593]

They. Infest.
Wow.

If only We had a Final Solution for Them.