

What I see - grey-area
http://jeremiahshackelford.com/post/91988891156/what-i-see

======
skrebbel
Sometimes, HN seems like a local San Francisco magazine. For example, just
from accidental clicks on beautifully mysterious article headlines, I've
learned more about SF's housing problems than I know about the situation in my
own city.

There's nothing wrong with this blog post, but as one of the many readers that
live more than 50 km away (in my case, 9000), it is profoundly irrelevant.

Maybe we can add a [sf] tag to local news/blog headlines?

~~~
logicallee
Or maybe you can move to San Francisco :)

~~~
mdellabitta
But that place has housing problems!

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koonsolo
As a European I was absolutely shocked by that street. One moment you're
walking in a normal shopping street, and then you cross the lights, and the
next moment you're in some deserted street with only drug addicts and homeless
people. And there you stand with your travel suitcase shouting "Hey look at
me, I'm a tourist".

Maybe the US just needs a proper social system.

~~~
grey-area
There are lots of examples of poverty, homelessness and addiction juxtaposed
with wealth in Europe -

e.g. The banlieues of Paris, the suburbs of Edinburgh like Craigmillar, the
sheds with beds in suburbs of London

While a better social support system is a good first step, it doesn't
eliminate problem areas like this, nor does it deal completely with the mental
health issues, drug addiction and stress that often comes with extreme
poverty. Perhaps in some cities the problems are better hidden (Paris is a
good example), but they are there.

------
ggreer
I live on the edge of that map and I can't wait for the Tenderloin to get
gentrified like much of the rest of the city.

A significant portion of homeless in the Tenderloin are violently insane. I've
had several threaten to kill me in the past few months. I've had someone come
up and start pushing me until one of his friends yelled, "Leave that cracker
alone!" I've had a homeless woman run up to me waving a stick, threatening to
beat me up. It's gotten bad enough that I carry pepper spray.

There are some cool things in the Tenderloin, but I'd gladly trade them for
not having to fear assault by crazy drug addicts.

Oh, and to those who think nothing is being done about homelessness or that
the US doesn't have social programs for this: The city of San Francisco (a
city of a million people) spends over $150 million a year on the problem. That
works out to $34 per homeless person per day.[1]

1\. [http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-
spendi...](http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spending-on-
homeless-exceeds-many-5416839.php)

~~~
incision
_> 'The city of San Francisco (a city of a million people) spends over $150
million a year on the problem. That works out to $34 per homeless person per
day.[1]'_

My loose Wikipedia-driven math puts that at <0.5% of income working to support
>1.3% of population to the tune of a not terribly luxurious $12k per year.

I don't know how that compares to elsewhere, but it doesn't seem like a
horrible deal at face value.

Still, the important question is always going to be how that money is spent,
not how much is spent. Everyone seems to agree that it could be more
effective. Thankfully, some of the issues sound like things the tech community
would quite able to assist with:

 _" By highest-end users, Bamberger means the hardest of the hard-core
homeless, who use far more emergency services, such as ambulance rides, than
other homeless people. To figure out which ones those are, Salt Lake City uses
a data tracking system that shows every time a homeless person gets shelter,
counseling or other services from a government or nonprofit agency. Then
counselors can tailor housing and services to the person's needs._

 _This also makes it much easier for government and nonprofits to quickly
coordinate their efforts._

 _San Francisco doesn 't have such a system. Its service providers have wanted
one for a decade - and this summer, they plan to participate in a pilot
project for just such a data-tracking system, led by the Human Services Agency
and other city departments involved in aiding the homeless."_

1: [http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Salt-Lake-City-a-
model-...](http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Salt-Lake-City-a-model-for-S-
F-on-homeless-5587357.php)

~~~
jshack
Thanks for adding that about the data tracking system in Salt Lake City, that
could definitely be a step in the right direction.

------
kapupetri2
This is awesome example how liberal capitalism works in practice.

1 percenters complain on their blog how streets should be cleaned from poor,
sick and ugly.

How about changing your system so, that govermnent takes of care poor and
sick, instead they have to rely on donations?

~~~
ivanca
Republicans are usually against giving "things for free", so connecting this
issue only with liberal capitalism is a bit misleading, because it's a wider
opinion than that.

But anyway, I do agree with your sentiment.

~~~
TheCoelacanth
Republicans since Reagan are huge proponents of neoliberal economics while
Democrats tend more towards Keynesianism. Liberal economic policies are
definitely to blame, but the party that is usually identified as "liberal" in
America isn't the economically liberal party.

~~~
dragonwriter
Both Keynesian and neoliberal economics are developments of liberal economics.

------
incision
I've been to SF several times, walked through the area specified at least once
and just revisited it via street view. In every case it immediately impresses
me as a cleaner version of Baltimore with better streets.

I think this guy has absolutely the right idea, particularly with
volunteering.

If you're fortunate enough to not have experience the effects of poverty,
addiction or homeless getting to know the people who have an continue to
struggle with it is probably the next best thing.

A good friend of mine who grew up as the comfortable son of a successful
banker credits his time spent interning with social services as completely
reversing his previously dismissive ideas about such things.

------
majke
Thanks for writing that. As a European I'm always shocked by this aspect of
San Francisco. Come on, you, the great land of free, surely can afford to help
the disadvantaged. But it looks like nobody's even trying.

I was looking for pointers on how I can help - and here they are - thank you!

~~~
Gracana
> Come on, you, the great land of free, surely can afford to help the
> disadvantaged.

A common attitude I see from people who have "made it" in some way, whether
that's running their own business or just working hard and making a good life
for themselves, is that their success is deserved and a result of their hard
work.

By extension, if you're homeless or poor or on welfare or whatever, it's
because you _haven 't_ put in that effort. It's a fallacious argument, but it
makes it easy for a lot of people to dismiss those in need.

Actually on second though... I've seen that attitude from plenty of people who
_aren 't_ well off. It's quite pervasive. I guess people just want to believe
that it's always possible to succeed through hard work, and that they/others
aren't just getting fucked over.

~~~
jorgis
People in the US all believe that if they just work hard enough for somebody
else, they can become millionaires.

There's also this fun narrative about the mysterious "job creators," which are
angelic creatures from beyond the firmament who seek only to sprinkle money
down on the destitute in exchange for a paltry 40 hours of their lives per
week. Personally, I don't believe in them but I know enough people who do.

~~~
mcguire
" _the mysterious 'job creators'_"

Hm. What do their Series A funding deals look like?

------
skwirl
If this was the typical attitude of techies in SF, I would be able to
understand some of the "Google bus" protests. That was incredibly patronizing.

