Take 1/3 the office buildings and make them housing. That gives us the density we need inside the city. Keep going, we do have enough space here. Keep going until rent and housing cost drops to be more in line with wages. Restore transit so that transportation cost is not such an enormous expense (where I am, 2 cars can easily cost $1k a month, say one car payment, insurance x2, and gas and maintenance) so people in this more tightly defined space didn’t need cars so desperately.
(ETA: I would also buy back the electric company from the out-of-country conglomerate that bought it & create a cheap city fiber optic internet service. Do the things that cost up front then reduce everyone’s cost over time. We already have city run water & garbage)
Then would need to tackle the actual homeless - are you saying we’d need to house even people who do not want an indoor space? People who will never have a job and don’t want to be part of the system? This is a small but non-zero number. For those I think more widely distributed facilities at every single park in the city, well maintained and clean, so it would not be so terrible trying to just get a shower. And lots of outreach to get those who do want a place, into a place, and the help they need to have a good enough life.
In my own city, with an unlimited budget?
Take 1/3 the office buildings and make them housing. That gives us the density we need inside the city. Keep going, we do have enough space here. Keep going until rent and housing cost drops to be more in line with wages. Restore transit so that transportation cost is not such an enormous expense (where I am, 2 cars can easily cost $1k a month, say one car payment, insurance x2, and gas and maintenance) so people in this more tightly defined space didn’t need cars so desperately.
(ETA: I would also buy back the electric company from the out-of-country conglomerate that bought it & create a cheap city fiber optic internet service. Do the things that cost up front then reduce everyone’s cost over time. We already have city run water & garbage)
Then would need to tackle the actual homeless - are you saying we’d need to house even people who do not want an indoor space? People who will never have a job and don’t want to be part of the system? This is a small but non-zero number. For those I think more widely distributed facilities at every single park in the city, well maintained and clean, so it would not be so terrible trying to just get a shower. And lots of outreach to get those who do want a place, into a place, and the help they need to have a good enough life.