#47 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday June 3)
Good morning!
HOMELESSNESS—MORE INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS ARE REQUIRED
A few more thoughts on the homelessness problem:
Glenn Raines notes a few general…and personal…observations:
“Boy, when I saw Garcetti’s plan to pledge $1BB to fight homelessness, I thought they better have a solid plan around smart land use - repurposing under utilized or vacant properties (as addressed in your musing). I think Garcetti added the Yang-inspired guaranteed basic income (GBI) – all good but maybe take a play out of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson’s playbook – adapt GBI to more of a Workfare (versus Welfare) model – give people pride in working for something – pick up trash, Covid-deep clean common areas, infrastructure jobs, green conversion jobs, etc.
At SC, I was the first student population to live at Century Apartments, just west of USC Village on Jefferson. I thought it was novel that the University gave the developer some incentives as long as a portion of the units were Section 8 to address the displacement problem. It actually because a unique socio-economic experience at the intersection of white privilege and the marginalized.
People need to look at “infrastructure investment” beyond the physical space, to how these investments can positively impact social welfare (think: helping subsidize sandwiched elder care demands is an infrastructure problem when it impacts the worker productivity of those who have to care/pay for aging parents, while funding college for their kids).”
THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE PROBLEM
Thank you Bob Held, for summarizing a few additional important points about the breadth of the problem and the need for multiple remedies to this complex societal malady. It is not just a question of homelessness—it has many more layers:
Regarding your letter on homelessness, here are some points to think about.
Homelessness is more than just finding a home, you need resources like skill changing education, job search assistance, drug and psychological help, as housing them does not solve the situation, only masks it.
You need to provide them a way to get lower cost staples.
In your comments, you mentioned that they do not need parking. Cars were some of their last homes and they should not be made to get rid of them.
They need additional security as they need to feel safe.
They need a feeling of permanence.
Some of the repurposing is great, but many if not most, is too costly. Some of the ideas that are starting to flow are taking the extended stay motels and using them. They were built in the 50s+ and can be acquired for a better price and require less upgrade. Look at La Brea near the 10 freeway.
The VA is totally mismanaged and thinks that if they put a couple of hundred homes there they are taking care of the situation. They need to set up infrastructure to handle this, including finding homes for them in all parts of the county so that they be close to relatives.
LIZA MINELLI TURNS 75
She turned 75 earlier this year. What other person can lay claim to having a musical centered on them, produced by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse (who also directed and choreographed)? I will always remember “Liza With a Z” when it aired in the 70s on TV. Between her star turn in Cabaret through her inspired performance as “Lucy 2” in Arrested Development, and everything in-between, she has been the consummate entertainer.
MUSINGS UPDATE—BOOKS
For the “definitive” list of non-fiction books over the first 450 days of Musings: https://glennsonnenbergblog.wixsite.com/mysite/books
And if you want to invite someone to sign up for the Musings, here’s the link: https://eepurl.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=c6d57cc4cef3fdd8c77289985&id=60f78d98b1
Glenn