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2026.0409.0001-Thursday...
One of the sadder parts of living in RI is... all the "talk" about housing for homeless, but then it goes into NIMBY mode. Not In My Back Yard. We have so many abandoned schools, hospitals, etc. that would be perfect to rehab into assisted housing. Structures near transportation. Anyhow. Some day...
ReplyDeleteRade, I agree with you that NIMBY does play a large part of exacerbating the homeless situation. However, there are way bigger challenges than just NIMBY; people may not like having homeless in their "back yard," but most individual residents don't have the organizational or financial resources to successfully fight it. And let's be honest - the city government sees the good optics politically of lowering the homeless counts so make the NIMBY argument a hard uphill battle to win. So, when you have an "abandoned" existing building that is up to be turned over for the homeless, NIMBY usually can be overcome.
ReplyDeleteThe larger challenges against homing those that are disadvantaged mainly revolves around current building codes and government requirements. When you look at retrofitting an existing structure - say, an old abandoned school - into a shelter, it then jumps in code definition into residential codes for buildings, which are way stricter and more comprehensive than for just about any other structure. This really applies when you have a building more than 20 or so years old, because not only would it have to be brought up to existing code, it would have to be brought up to existing residential code. Stricter building materials, more exits, more accessibility, more bathrooms, more showers/tubs, insulation, cooking facilities, more safety systems, etc. - it almost becomes easier and cheaper to demolish that existing building and build something purpose built as a homeless shelter.
Also keep in mind that existing buildings aren't really "abandoned;" rather, they are just sitting vacant. In all but a few cases; someone DOES own them. That owner - unless they are philanthropic at their core - is looking for a return on investment (ROI), which they won't see by turning it into a homeless shelter. Not only because of the initial expense of bringing it up to code and purpose, but then there's the long-term losses associated with no appreciable PTP; in most cases, it's a losing business case. Even sitting vacant or "abandoned," they are making money through business/corporate tax laws that allow them to claim losses on the property and deduct them. Selling it to a philanthropic organization isn't really a solution either; as most wouldn't be able to pay top dollar for the property and probably wouldn't have the resources to go through all the requirements of code, propose upgrades and maintenance. For many years homeless shelters were the province of organized religion; their lax code and tax law requirements allows them to deal with the situation differently (and a different revenue stream, obviously).
Most owners would rather turn the property into something to make money (such as a strip mall, or even carwash) than lose money on a homeless shelter. If they do sell it, they want to sell it to someone that would pay top dollar, demolish the building and turn it into a profit making entity.
I don't agree with this strategy, but it's just the harsh reality of today's world of capitalism; it's just a sad, but true reality. I hope a viable solution is found soon, because I have the feeling with the way things are going financially right now that there are going to be a lot more homeless people in the near future.
In the TX region, there are new reports of some school districts needing to close schools due to declining student numbers. Even in the more affluent areas, as current older owners choose to "age in place" rather than downsizing to smaller residences. Each time, angry parents protest, but about 2 years later, the closures happen, saving the school district millions of dollars each time. So vacant schools need to be turned into other uses. A homeless residence situation would be ideal, on the surface, but expensive to make happen. One of the biggest items would be individual unit plumbing, no doubt. Perhaps that could be worked-around with a false floor in each room with pipes going to the outside (through the wall) to mae with an external pipe system going to the sewer? Supply and removal. A common dining hall is already there, as would be a place for the kids to play. Which then gets to the needed hvac system, which could be a gang of mini-split systems. Add a false roof to cap the current roof, with added insulation capabilities, too.
ReplyDeleteEach of those rooms were big enough to hold 30 students, so plenty of room to live comfortably, as in a personal tiny house. THEN set up a transit system to move the residents to public transportation hubs, where they could use reduced-rate coupons to get where they needed to be. Let the same public-private partnerships that build new homes for the homeless vets and such run things, expanding into these "apartment building" areas, too.
Such a place would be aspirational to get into as a mid-point in their journey, but would also motivate them to aspire to be fully in a separate place, too. Some might like the community as others would want to be separate, no doubt. Just as some prefer apartments rather than a house they rent.
Zoning regulations would need some tweaking for such to happen, though. And THAT could take decades! But the same would be true if they were repurposed into small, start-up offices or workspaces!
Innovation is needed! Even if it is a community of "fold-out" assembled housing. Which can assemble a whole neighborhood quickly.
Housing first is key----Let's take a look how Finland tackled the homeless crisis. https://youtu.be/kbEavDqA8iE?si=EPCWWQByQfRgjeye
ReplyDeleteVRCooper - Thanks for the link; it was very informative.
DeleteThere is a BIG, BIG caveat with these comparisons with northeastern european countries, e.g. Norway, Sweden, Finland which is never ever mentioned: The entire population of Finland fits into Queens & Brooklyn. These countries' populations are so ridiculously small they can treasure & care for each kid or homeless and so on, individually. And they are rich, relatively. No wonder they are first globally on education, care, satisfaction, living standards. It's - I think - highly unfair to compare the sheer dimension of US problems with these diminutive Scandinavian countries. You can compare other countries like France or Germany with perhaps California, but not to an entire continent.
DeleteIf we can spend trillions on our continuous wars in the Middle East, we can spend trillions on our national housing crisis.
ReplyDeleteRex in DC
Here, they take old hotels --- those that are NOT on The Strip --- and raze them....then the land sits vacant. Those buildings have everything that would be needed to house the homeless, yet.....
ReplyDelete