“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

Last weekend, the New York Times Magazine ran an article on homelessness in Los Angeles. The article framed the problem of street vagrancy as almost entirely a result of insufficient housing. “The state needs to create 1.2 million more homes for low-income residents and those experiencing homelessness—which would cost roughly $17.9 billion annually,” the author, Jaime Lowe, reports. California needs to be smarter about building houses and apartments, but the facts Lowe uncovers don’t point to new housing as a solution to street homelessness.

Police and activists clashed on Wednesday while a homeless encampment was cleared out of a downtown park.

After spending the morning urging between 14 and 17 holdouts occupying a portion of Lamport Stadium Park, near King and Dufferin Sts., the city made good on its promise to enforce trespass notices issued last month.

These appear to be “activist” lead altercations. For once Tory has done the right thing, thank goodness for internal polling.

Video moments ago as Toronto Police move in and begin arresting those inside the homeless encampment at Lamport Stadium @CityNews pic.twitter.com/RLm3yMlK9w

— Mark McAllister (@McAllister_Mark) July 21, 2021

Every solid blue city has its horrors — from murders in Chicago, to organized thievery in San Francisco.

In San Diego, where I live, the problem is homeless attacks. Seems the homeless aren’t just unsightly, unsanitary, or famous spreaders of disease, they’re dangerous, and when you have a lot of them, you have a lot of unprovoked random assaults on law-abiding residents. The problem is out there, and too bad for those who don’t like it. San Diego’s new leftist mayor, Todd Gloria, is de facto advising the victims that he’s going to create more of it.

Sunny Sharma wants to stay in Vancouver. But he fears he and his wife, Shilpi, may have to move outside B.C. some day to own their own home.

In the almost two years since Sunny and Shilpi moved from Delhi and became permanent residents through Canada’s express-entry program, they have been patching together beginner-level jobs in technology while running a small business. That way they can continue to rent a 500-square-foot apartment in Vancouver’s West End.

A perfect segue. Seriously I could live in a Van like this.

Not sure if  “Canadian” year round living is possible in this new van from Storyteller, it’s built on the Ford AWD Transit. They use sheep’s wool insulation but the grey water tank is exterior mounted and likely will freeze in the Great White North necessitating a rework, it’s certainly winter capable based on what I know of it’s Mercedes counterpart, but if the exterior tank is rated only to -1 Fahrenheit (-18 C)  then that won’t cut it.

It has the electrical power to do it however as they employ a Volta power system so running an air conditioner for 8 hours is possible. Solar is almost an afterthought as you can Boondock for days with the Volta and still keep your fridge running with plenty of power to spare for using your induction cooktop etc. The batteries can be charged via the high powered alternator they supply but lack the option to charge on “idle” like the competing system from Lithionics which is overall a better bet IMHO as it’s expandable and overall less proprietary.

I see they are listing a gas heater system, likely something like this from Heatso. Storyteller has built exclusively on the Mercedes Sprinter platform till now but people are shy of the Mercedes’ scant repair centres and maintenance costs and apparently highway diesel fuel is harder to find outside NA. By many accounts the Transit is a nicer ride especially after the Sumo shock installation though the Sprinter has dominated the High End Class B van space.

The on board “Halo” shower is different and seems workable though frankly I prefer the privacy of an enclosed shower/bathroom space. It comes with a recirculating hot water system which  I am assuming allows you to “recycle” the same 3 to 5 gallons of water by cleaning it via filters allowing you an unlimited shower. Recirculating showers seem to be the future and system’s like the Volta can handle the power requirement without problem and most importantly they save you a lot of water. Water is always at a premium and also weighs a great deal so tradeoffs are necessary, a recirculating shower is a good solution.

Earlier this week, Toronto Police Services cleared out a homeless encampment that had been a blight on Trinity Bellwoods Park, one of the city’s most popular public spaces. Approximately two dozen camp dwellers were evicted, at least half of whom were resettled into municipal shelters and city-paid hotel rooms. This was a victory for community safety, and hopefully heralds the clearance of other encampments that have similarly undermined public well-being.

Many Americans think that homelessness is a problem confined to coastal states, but the issue is becoming prominent in Texas as well. Since 2017, the number of people in the state living outside—the “unsheltered homeless”—has increased by 50 percent. About 10,500 Texans now live, and all too often die, on the streets. One reason why: many Texas cities have condoned, or even encouraged, street camping and sleeping.

LOS ANGELES—World-renowned Venice Beach has long been a place where visitors, residents, and business owners commingled with artists, musicians, and entertainers from all over the country. Over 10 million tourists visit the beach’s famous boardwalk each year, drawn in by the ocean view and the unconventional lifestyle of the city’s eccentric community.

Venice Beach has its own twitter account documenting the decay.

Venice Beach Boardwalk – Sunday June 6, 2021 12:35pm – An elderly performer is assaulted in yet another random attack. The attacker was seen afterwards entering one of the tents that line the boardwalk and is currently still at large. pic.twitter.com/ibmYANs4Jv

— Venice Beach Boardwalk (@BoardwalkVenice) June 6, 2021

A homeless encampment in west-end Toronto became the scene of a physical clash between Toronto police officers and protesters on Wednesday, as a crowd attempted to block dozens of police and security from clearing some 15 remaining people from a Lamport Stadium camp.

A physical altercation erupted after advocates attempted to block machinery from taking away a small, wooden structure. Two people were arrested for trespassing, and one for alleged assault of a police officer. Before the clash, protesters had decried enforcement and officers pressed into the crowd with bikes to form a perimeter around an occupant told to pack their bags.

VIOLENT CONTENT. Clashes broke out at Lamport Stadium as City of Toronto staff cleared out a homeless camp. A mini-riot between activists and Toronto Police happened out on King St. when officials tried to move out a shelter box right through the dense crowd. @680NEWS pic.twitter.com/s2qYFvDAtS

— Mark Douglas (@Douglas680NEWS) May 19, 2021

I am a little surprised this has received such subdued media coverage. But then the media in Toronto has paid scant attention to the weekly “Freedom Marches” which grow with each outing. It almost seems they pick and choose the news they report on to suit someone’s agenda.

Residents of Venice Beach in Los Angeles say soaring crime rates and the exploding homeless population have made life in the elite beachside community unbearable.

A ‘catastrophic’ increase in homelessness in Los Angeles has seen hundreds of tents line the beach’s famous boardwalk.

Business owners say they are being forced to close their doors and longterm residents are afraid to leave their homes after dark after being subjected to violent attacks and intimidation.

Democrat cities have allowed hundreds of homeless encampments to pop up along the West Coast.

Homelessness isn’t new to places like San Francisco, L.A., Seattle, Sacramento, and so on. I was in Portland 12 years ago for a comedy gig. The park in front of the club looked like a scene from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. Today it looks like the Walking Dead.