The measure known as Proposition 1, which includes $6.38 billion for treatment and housing, was a top priority for Gov. Gavin Newsom to reduce homelessness in the state.
There is a homelessness problem in California and drugs/mental illness do contribute to it, but the much bigger issue is the price of housing and California’s stubborn unwillingness to build more of it to meet demand. There is a spectrum of homelessness in California and it ranges from people sleeping on the street to people living in RVs because they can’t afford to rent an apartment. RVs are literally everywhere in some parts of the state, which really adds to the dystopian vibe. Some cities have cracked down on them, which I agree, no one wants an RV parked in front of their house with someone just living there, but it’s not the main fix. The problem is created in the first place because someone needs a house and doesn’t have one.
So, I feel similarly about Newsom’s bill here. There should be mechanisms to usher addicts into programs to help them get clean and mentally ill folks into programs to support them, but it’s not the main fix.
If anything this program will help clean up California’s image problem, but it’s not going to address the root cause.
There is a homelessness problem in California and drugs/mental illness do contribute to it, but the much bigger issue is the price of housing and California’s stubborn unwillingness to build more of it to meet demand. There is a spectrum of homelessness in California and it ranges from people sleeping on the street to people living in RVs because they can’t afford to rent an apartment. RVs are literally everywhere in some parts of the state, which really adds to the dystopian vibe. Some cities have cracked down on them, which I agree, no one wants an RV parked in front of their house with someone just living there, but it’s not the main fix. The problem is created in the first place because someone needs a house and doesn’t have one.
So, I feel similarly about Newsom’s bill here. There should be mechanisms to usher addicts into programs to help them get clean and mentally ill folks into programs to support them, but it’s not the main fix.
If anything this program will help clean up California’s image problem, but it’s not going to address the root cause.