http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/24/cta_cracks_down_on_homeless Comments On: CTA Cracks Down on Homeless by Erica C. Barnett en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:45:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Rob the builder]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:27:12 -0800 The Stranger
But people kept driving their damned cars.
Posted by Will in Seattle]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:50:44 -0800 The Stranger Posted by duh]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:03:43 -0800 The Stranger
I just can't wrap my head around the fact that many housed folks are just fine with people dying in the streets! 7 new homeless deaths have occurred since October. That's 41 one confirmed homeless deaths this year. Thanks, Erica, for drawing attention to this issue, and a big fuck you to people who don't give a damn.
Posted by Glasses]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:36:32 -0800 The Stranger
Come on, Erica -- the driver on my 13 route stopped the bus not once, not twice, but *thrice* to wake up a sleeping homeless guy who kept listing over onto his side and snoring loudly.
Posted by jcolman]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:42:45 -0800 The Stranger
I'm not saying that any city should or should not provide for its less fortunate, more urine-smelling. I'm just saying that the "lucky" transit riders start off buying ipods, or Kindles, or other handhelds to ease their commute and try to block out the crazy.

But eventually they just buy a car.
Posted by Karla]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:24:11 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Geni]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:14:29 -0800 The Stranger
Hey, Will - 1968 is on the phone and they want you to return their comic-book version of liberalism that you borrowed some time ago. Oh and Motorhead is on line two asking if you could sing back-up vox on "Eat the Rich."
Posted by Lionel Hutz]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:41:17 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Never Ending Cycle]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:22:11 -0800 The Stranger
That sounds fair.
Posted by Will in Seattle]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:18:32 -0800 The Stranger
A lot of people here on Slog who aren't homeless would be if they were laid off and couldn't find a good job for a year. You can couch surf for a while, but that gets old fast. Some people have relatives who can take them in, some people don't or don't want to be dependent on them. Sitting in your car for an entire rainy week isn't tolerable for most people. So where do you go? Libraries, public transit, loitering in other public places, etc.

More info: http://www.cehkc.org/Scope.aspx
Posted by jrrrl]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:02:55 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Eric L]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:59:32 -0800 The Stranger
The Magic Carpet Ride system was the best transit idea Seattle had since the 1926 subway. Collecting fares downtown would slow the system to a crawl.
Posted by Matt the Engineer]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:51:56 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Scott in Chi-town]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:46:25 -0800 The Stranger
The ride-free zone isn't there because of charity or whatever, it's there because riding the bus downtown would be a disaster without it.
Posted by andrew]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:30:27 -0800 The Stranger
Homelessness will skyrocket, but it doesn't follow that there will be more people seeking shelter on public transport. In my experience, otherwise employed people sleep in their cars or on relatives' couches in dire times. The people you see on the street who are obviously homeless have issues way beyond not being able to find work.
Posted by keshmeshi]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:24:23 -0800 The Stranger
Yeah, the problem of homelessness is more complex than shelter beds. But we've got about 8000 homeless, and 6000 shelter beds. And by "beds" I mean "thin mats on the floor with 6 inches of clearance on either side". With roughly 2000 people on the street every night, many of them elderly and frail, it's understandable that they would ride the 194 all night.
Posted by El]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:20:42 -0800 The Stranger Posted by jrrrl]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:17:12 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Anon]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:09:25 -0800 The Stranger
BTW, please don't pretend the problem of homelessness is just a factor of how many shelter beds the city provides.
Posted by six shooter]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:08:26 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Cat in Chicago]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:06:46 -0800 The Stranger
If you pass zoning laws that drive low-income hotels out of business downtown, then zone the rest of the city and suburbs so that SRO hotels can no longer be built or operate independently, then you have just intervened in the "free market" to ensure that the poorest of the poor cannot have their housing needs met by private developers ANYWHERE.

This makes the poorest of the poor increasingly dependent upon government and social services for aid, and increasingly more likely to perform "private" acts in "public" that those middle class people disapprove of. Punishing poor people for then using public space-- parks, libraries, transit and jails-- while not even bothering to siphon enough of the profits from the city's redevelopment to cover the cost housing all homeless who need basic shelter, is cruel. But it's an act of cruelty that is rationalized daily by people's contempt and fear of the poor, which erases the entire history of how the city profits from their displacement.
Posted by Trevor]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:06:05 -0800 The Stranger Posted by tomasyalba]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:03:39 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Wes]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:01:22 -0800 The Stranger Posted by kinaidos]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:00:48 -0800 The Stranger