www.chron.com/news/article/houston-mayor-encampments-homeless-19553299.php
Mayor Whitmire blasted for saying Houstonians "do not want to see encampments"
He respects women but he will slap his wife if she gets out line.
Does he not understand that the word but cancels out the first part.
Bro 😂😂😂😂
Damn is this true.
That's true, we don't.
Neither do they in other states.
Exactly why is this a controversial statement? Say what you want about homelessness, encampments isn’t a good solution and doesn’t lead to anything good
We should really use San Francisco as a model for what not to do regarding homelessness. Encampments being one of them. Main one being absurd housing costs though.
You don’t need to go to San Francisco for that, just look at Austin. It’s not a great solution at all.
California has tried nothing and they’re all out of ideas.
In all serious though, the rampant NIMBYISM has created a lot of their issues. The state does seem to be taking some solid action though to at least try to increase available housing. It takes 2 years on average to permit a new home in San Francisco, the state is now stepping in and should be able to get that down to 6 months.
A “new home?!?” I hope you mean studio efficiency apartment.
Yeah, honestly I have no idea what it actually ends up being. I know outside of the city they don’t really seem to be fans of high rises. And I remember reading about how they were going to have low income housing in Palo Alto for 200 seniors. They ended up revolting on it and shooting it down. They built 6 houses instead.
California created the absurd housing costs there. You can’t make build standards 100x greater, increase taxes, and the dozen other government rules they implemented and NOT cause absurd housing costs.
It only feels controversial because the journalist used the term "blasted". Best to ignore any headline that says "blasted", "slammed", etc. It just means the journalist doesn't like something. I would wager almost any Houstonian would agree with the mayor's statement.
Homeless camps are not a solution but are the symptoms of a broken system, instead of vilifying homeless as mayor maybe he should work on solutions fix the cost of housing, the availability of beds in homeless shelters and mental health services!
What about the addicts ?
He made a campaign promise to provide a solution to mental health to help addicts.
is he wrong? go for a walk to tiger food and when you look down you just see used needles, pipes, condoms, and various other trash everywhere.
I do not want to see encampments.
Nobody wants to see homeless encampments. That goes without saying.
The question is, how do you want to get there? House the homeless? Grind them into a nutritious powder? Something in between?
We provide a lot of homeless housing in Houston. Unfortunately, the people in encampments often don't want to join those programs.
Exactly
I mean . . . how nutritious are we talking about here?
Well if we’re talking about a “whole hog” grind, it would have lots of protein (muscle tissue), collagen (tendons and ligaments), and calcium (bones and teeth). Pair your hobo smoothie with a nice side of beans for fiber and you’re looking at a pretty complete meal.
Naturally low fat and TEEMING with antibiotics, hobo smoothies are a perfect complement for an on-the-go lifestyle!
Is it organic though?
Even better, it's Soylent
Free-range.
Got to pay extra for that.
Calcium is good for you
Homeless dude outside of my midtown townhome 7 years ago had a house, but his GF and 4 kids lived there and he preferred to be on the street. The other guy he was with also had a place to stay but had too many rules so he preferred to sleep on the street too. Both of them worked for a landscaping crew that serviced the apartments in the area.
My new house… “homeless” guy sleeps outside of an abandoned business. Except he isn’t homeless. He technically lives with his parents in the neighborhood but they don’t allow alcohol inside so he prefers to sleep outside 90% of the year.
Some people just don’t want to be housed. And you can’t force addicts and the mentally ill into treatment facilities anymore, so the “goal zero” is impossible.
Time for some Soylent...
Ah Soylent green, packed with everything a person needs since it's made of people.
I’m sure someone could come up with a modest proposal.
Nutritious powder 😭😭🤣🤣
Soylent Green
Soylent Green? If trump wins the presidency, then they will start grinding up people into food since that would be allowed now.
Fe fi fo fumb
I don't want to see them.
Shouldn't be blasted for that. Pretty much common sense... Even the most liberal folks should be in agreement there shouldn't be random tent cities in parks, etc
Nah - I consider myself fairly liberal but when I ask friends in Denver or Seattle why they let homeless live in the nicest parts of town they look at me like I’m an asshole
I think their minds are slowly changing
untrue. You'd be surprised how many liberal people want homeless to be allowed to live everywhere. I'm pretty sure in California they're allowed to practically set up camp in your front yard. I'm a democrat but those super progressive folks are going to get Trump re elected with their unpopular views.
I disagree. The libs in Austin (local libs, not state house) encouraged homeless to set up camps in parks and on sidewalks.
Yeah it’s true. Why is this controversial? This isn’t SF.
Me either. Sorry it’s a really health hazard.
Nobody wants to see those camps, they used to be downtown all over the place and now they're not, and guess what, it's made downtown better for it.
They’re now in my neighborhood and I am about 10 min from downtown. They put a bunch of trash, I’m talking heaps, on the curbside near a lot where beautiful horses are kept. They go up and down my street all hours of the day with shopping carts. Once I saw them shooting up. One man flashed my 65 year old mom. May have seemed funny to us (siblings and me) at first but it was actually really fucked up. She doesn’t deserve that.
I wish we could bring back asylums. Better run of course but people shouldn’t be allowed to do that. Oh and by the way we once got fined for putting construction waste on the curbside ($500) but they can leave way more trash curbside and have it picked up for free. 🙄🙄
I wouldn’t say downtown is a great example. I’ll be honest I don’t have any real numbers to back it up, but it sure seems like there are more homeless downtown now than pre-covid (and they’re aggressive).
Maybe not in the camps around Minute Maid, but a lot more in downtown on the streets.
I just became one of them and I promise you I'm not aggressive. I don't even talk to people or make eye contact with them bc I'm ashamed of being homeless. ☹️
Don’t be ashamed dude, shit happens.
I didn’t say what I did because I agree with Whitmire (I can almost guarantee you his plan is going to be god-awful). I said what I did because “getting rid” of the encampments doesn’t fix the problem, it just pushes them somewhere else.
In what I’ve seen, it pushed them into downtown, now without any real cover or protection, making them that much more stressed and potentially desperate, leading to more aggression.
Houston has led the way with working with its homeless population, and I think we need to continue that. I hope that some of those resources are still available and they can potentially help.
How can we help you?
Unfortunately not everyone is like you. If the homeless were more respectful of the property and people around them, I would have zero issue, even if they camped out nearby.
A friend of mine was stabbed multiple times in the neck as we were walking in to the Flying Saucer for a happy hour at 4pm on a Thursday last year. The perpetrator was a homeless person and my friend was very lucky he missed the carotid artery by less than half an inch. That really cemented my shift from being somewhat supportive of tolerance for this to fully convinced that we need way harsher punishments for all sorts of crime. Crime is crime and you can't look at the circumstances that led to it. We need to punish it all extremely harshly to deter more in the future.
omg was the person ever caught?
I've lived here my whole life, and I promise you there was way more homeless people before, but you're right there still quite a bit in midtown that unfortunately have to sleep on the sidewalk at night, and yes they're still as aggressive as ever. Sucks for the few that actually are down on their luck and need help.
I have too and maybe I was too young but I don’t remember it being worse, do you mean in downtown specifically?
Not only is he correct the businesses that have been locking their bathrooms with electonic locks don't want them around either. Some restauraunts like Starbucks won't even let you in the building. Taco Bell has a homeless encampment in their drive-thru on FM1960 near Cypress Station. I bet he has no idea about the Bum Mansions or the Forest of Bums on FM1960 going towards Aldine Westfield.
He’s not wrong. We don’t. It makes our city look trashy. Have you seen all the ones near the Minute Maid park?
I mean, who is going to argue against that statement? The real disagreement comes from how to handle the problem.
Who is blasting him? Not rational people.
I mean we don’t.
Who’s blasting him for speaking the truth ?
Exactly
Some idiot lib. But as soon as one of those encampments with homeless shooting up, stealing, bringing pitbulls from fighting rings, leaving trash and urine everywhere shows up near said lib, they’ll be the first to demand action.
Of course we don't. Homelessness shouldn't be a protected lifestyle choice that some activists seem to want it to be. You can deal with mental illness on a case by case basis but you can not allow this to become as tolerated like it is in some West Coast cities. Those willing to improve their situations should be supported as much as is feasible but there are always those who don't want to be helped and want to continue to remain on the streets. They need to be deterred - making encampments illegal and allowing residents to call the cops on them would force homeless people to go someplace else
That's true Whitmire. But not for the reason YOU think. I don't want to see encampments because I don't want there to be a need for them.
I don't think Whitmire wants there to be a need for them either...
The problem is just much more complex than throwing money at it.
Wrong! He’s ready to pull the plug on housing initiatives that have left Houston with the lowest rates of homelessness for any major American city. How did it happen? Throwing money at it. Yes you read that right. No I will not Google it for you. Google it for your damn self.
Not just money; it was Annise Parker getting all the relevant agencies and nonprofits to coordinate so that they weren’t duplicating or neglecting anything. Of course, asking Whitmire to learn from, consult, or do the same things as Parker isn’t going to happen. This guy doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He thinks he knows all about everything, so proposes stuff without consulting anyone except his donors, his supporters, and the occasional pastor.
Only the pastors who double as donors. And not the organ kind.
The core to solving every problem is throwing money at it, that’s how capitalism works. Everything is assigned a monetary value, including housing, and if the money isn’t there to house a person, they are not housed.
The question of getting the right amount of money to the right people and keeping accountability through the whole process is complicated.
I'm glad to see the mayor has a plan to make a plan to help the homeless.
What if we take the encampments…
And push them somewhere else?!
That idea might just be crazy enough… to get us all killed!
That’s what lots of places do now. It’s like Abbott busing migrants (using our tax dollars) to cities run by Democrats.
The tax cost of busing people elsewhere is negligible compared to providing services. Education is 10k a year per person. That is a lot of bus tickets.
“ Education is 10k a year per person.”
The Texas per-student allotment, which hasn’t changed in several years, is well below $10,000.
$6160 (varies slightly district to district) and thats with 100% perfect attendance. $10k is what they want for vouchers. Just fact checking.
According to this, Texas is at 9871 per student.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/per-pupil-spending-by-state
That is just the state allocation. Local governments also spend a good bit on education.
Stop using your brain and presenting facts. They can't handle it.
to be fair did they not ask for them?
did they not say
" You're welcome with open arms and we'll work to keep you safe... We'll not only house you, but we'll protect you." Their exact words. I don't blame texas at all
At least he’s not suggesting a hi-rise apartment bldg like Los Angeles.
he’s not wrong
I mean he’s not wrong?
I guess you need to consider just who is doing the blasting. There are complaining idiots everywhere.
As someone who was homeless in Houston, I'd rather live in a tent than at Star of Hope OR Salvation Army..in my tent I don't have to worry about other homeless stealing my belongings or having to go to chapel to get a meal, a shower or a bed...the encampments aren't much better either..why I had my tent out in the woods by myself..
That’s true though
Well, we don’t. I want them in the Housing First program. I want the city to ensure they get housing.
I don’t want to see encampments lol, it’s a fact. No one does
We don’t
I kind of think there are multiple parts to this.
1) no one wants to see homeless encampments, everyone wants to see folks in housing and safe and off the streets. Everyone shares the understanding that homeless encampment are a bad thing and a symbol of a failure on the part of us as a city.
2) I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until his plan is released but I completely understand people who don't trust him to do something beyond here is a campsite out of sight and out of mind given how he has governed to date.
Yeah us houstonians love crackheads, OP 🤪
He’s right.
During the public session hearing on Tuesday, Whitmire briefly addressed the city's strategy, saying his administration aims to lead the nation in affordable housing, add more navigation centers, and a space that temporarily holds unhoused residents as they find permanent housing while also "respecting public spaces."
"This was an issue that motivated me to run for mayor," Whitmire said in a statement Tuesday morning. "My administration has developed a sensible homeless plan that I'll release soon. Houstonians are caring and compassionate but do not want to see encampments in public spaces. We can do better and will study the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to understand what additional effective measures it allows."
Houston resident Elizabeth Sheffield confronted the mayor about his comments, telling the council her experience as a child growing up in the city dealing with homelessness. However, her questions to the body sparked an intense exchange with the mayor.
"What is the city going to do to provide, at the very least, adequate sleeping arrangements for those that need an indoor place to sleep?" Sheffield continued. "And if out of respect, as you put it for other Houstonians, the unhoused ought to be out of sight in public areas - what private areas do you suggest they go to?"
Whitmire replied to Sheffield: "We're going to have a comprehensive plan for the homeless," he said. "We're reviewing the Supreme Court ruling, but we plan to lead the nation in providing navigation centers, affordable housing, and doing everything we can to help the homeless and at the same time respecting the public space."
According to Whitimire's spokesperson, Mary Benton, Whitmire and Housing and Community Development Director Mike Nichols have created a plan to address homelessness, with details to be released soon. But when asked if she was confident in the city to address the needs of unhoused communities, Sheffield said, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Do people not realize just how far ahead of most cities Houston is?
Is someone going to call him out on the fact that Houston already has been celebrated for the successful strategy in reducing homelessness? Sounds like he’s just taking credit for the prior mayor’s (Annise Parker) work.
I am not saying that there isn’t more work to be done, just that it’s pathetic that he seems to be taking credit for other people’s work.
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/how-houston-successfully-reduced-homelessness/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/opinion/homeless-houston-dallas.html
I read it differently, like he has a plan that isn’t the one the city has had. Same thing he did with the street projects.
I guess I just question the point of saying you're working on a plan with zero acknowledgement of the success Houston has had the past 10+ years under 2 previous administrations. Like if you have ideas on how to make what we're doing more effective, great...but the way he talks makes it sound like he's completely scrapping a (so-far) fairly effective plan and starting over from scratch.
Oh yea that plan was AMAZING
Uh why? Its true
I wish I could get a job and a temp housing just for a month or two until I can afford to pay for a room from padsplit from my paycheck. I went to the coalition of the homeless today for help and was basically told you're on own if you're not a woman or youth especially if you just became homeless. 😔
Forgive the late and public reply here - I was homeless on and off repeatedly after my divorce due to complete lack of resources in the area and complete lack of awareness of the steps it takes to undo this shit. Here's my hot take:
1) whoever and I literally mean whoever you have in your life personally that has trusted you or believed in you in the past, you need to do whatever it takes to build up one or two really really solid relationships with them and KEEP THEM, 100%. They can help you stay on course to getting back on your feet, and as you show daily consistent gains, they'll up their commitment of time and resources to help you. I reckon they probably know you'll make some mistakes, but if it becomes an absurd pattern of fits and starts, you're going to have to find a fresh 'victim' friend, and trust me, that is absolutely not going to work out. You could end up spending YEARS like I did restoring trust from family and friends, when in reality you could get this shit done in months, and never look back.
2) I hope this isn't rude, but it's honest. My experience with chronic homeless problems is that it started and ended 100% with substance use/abuse, therapy, and some sort of spirituality. It so does not have to be church, but whether any of us like it or not, churches are still the absolute fastest way back on your feet. So look at a few, and find one you'd be willing to work with weekly, and you will get out of this mess really fucking fast.
3) If you haven't completely absorbed #2, don't even bother going on with #3 or beyond. Seriously. Substance use and abuse will fucking end you. I don't give a rat's fucking ass if you think you have control over alcohol or drugs. You fucking don't. Not when you're homeless. The second you think you've got control, but you're still (couch surfing, living on the street, living in a tent, living out of a storage unit, living in a homeless shelter)... and you go out drinking to celebrate a week or a month or a few months of employment? YOU. WILL. FUCK. UP. You will lose your goddamn hard fought and won job situation, and you will be right back at square fucking one. So don't fucking do that. Cut that shit out, even small amounts will ALWAYS lead to big amounts. That's what drugs and alcohol are DESIGNED to do. They dull your decision making, and they fuck you up, quick.
4) HOORAY! You made it past substance use or abuse, you've got healthcare from the government. So now, go out and get you an online therapist and psychiatrist to give you whatever support you need to discuss whatever the fuck it was that led to this. Something did. For most guys I met, it was as simple as a breakup or a falling out with a friend or family member or roommate, and they just didn't know what to do next, got stuck staring at their PTSD now that they realize NOBODY gives a shit about you because they're one paycheck away from YOU, and it scares them shitless. YOU HAVE TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT THIS, EVERY SINGLE DAY, likely twice or more a day until you know it's under control, there's nothing you could've done differently, and now you have to focus on work. Talk to whoever that is about THAT. Focus on THAT. Focus on gains, not losses. Focus on today and tomorrow, that is IT.
5) My favorite resources that got me the fuck out of all that shit: a) MDLIVE via TX BlueCross/Blue Shield. I'm extremely low income, so I get weekly video therapy, psych meds, and support as needed. That is a huge resource that is valued at $500+ per month. $0 copays, across the board. It'll make you feel normal and like someone who spends $6,000 a year on healthcare. Because you are. It's just paid for by the government for now as a tax break.
6) Did you know that if you earned jack shit last year or recently, you probably qualify for student aid and loans to go back to school? Did you know that you could probably enroll at HCC for the fall, apply for student aid, get it within a month or two after starting class and showing you're not dropping the classes? I didn't know that, for four fucking years, and I busted my goddamn ASS working for warehouses and Amazon as a driver, just barely scraping by, and bouncing from one bullshit rental to another. Now? NOW I am studying occupational therapy at HCC, taking a very reasonable level of classes, and getting about 75% of my cost of living from grants and 5% loans that paid off my credit cards which were at 30% and eating me alive.
7) If you don't like where you are, seriously... get the fuck away from wherever that is. Don't sit or stand or sleep or work in some shithole part of town that you can't stand. Get somewhere nice. Find a job in that nice area of town. Spend time with 5 people per day that you respect, care about, look up to or even LOVE. That's the way out of this shit. Truly.
8) You may fuck up like I did, over and over and fucking over again. I went from married and owning a business with my wife to the streets in a fucking heartbeat and I couldn't for the life of me ask for help until like six goddamn months went by. It was fucking pathetic. By then, I'd done so goddamn much damage to my psyche, man it was awful. I've had MAD PTSD from all of that for 4 years and I'm just now unraveling it all, taking it the fuck off my shoulders and moving the fuck on from it all. Don't do that. Get help. Keep that help. Don't push it away, and again, do NOT fuck it up. Seriously. If you do, you better double down on not fucking it up and find a fresh organization that you can fully commit to. For me, it was a shelter program in CA run by churches. I got work, got a car, wrecked the damn thing, got lucky, got help from family, and slowly kept building on the gains from my kin. If I'd had a better plan I liked (school) to begin with, I wouldn't know all this. Now I do, and I do intend to give back as much and often as I can with similar programs in Houston.
Best of luck.
Oh and seriously, can't say it enough. If you have substance or alcohol abuse issues, join r/stopdrinking and participate daily. Start a counter. It's flair that the mods (message them) can set up for you. My counter is at something like 105 days now sober. That's pathetic because I started and stopped for a REALLY long time after my divorce, thinking it was okay because hey at least I wasn't on drugs any more. Bullshit. That's bullshit, pure and simple. You can't expect to stay in a great job or school or with great people somewhere if you're not trustworthy with yourself about stuff like drugs and alcohol. /rant
I think anyone who is homeless can tell you.. holy shit. Almost all homeless that I knew of had serious drug and alcohol problems because DUH. You're homeless. And it's hot as fuck in Houston. Ugh. First thing that's gotta go is that. Everything else will go a lot faster and better once you KNOW you can stop. And all it takes is one day at a time on r/stopdrinking. Check it out. It's a GREAT community.
So is the next step they set up a camp somewhere outside the city to concentrate the homeless population in one place? I think Abbott and Cruz would be onboard with that.
No. You make life tough enough so they will go to another more welcoming city. Dallas did this with Laura Miller back in the day by arresting anyone panhandling. It was a sad thing but many moved to greener pastures in Austin or Cali which have really great services. Dick move by Dallas but it’s a fine line. A city can’t be too welcoming or homeless around the country will flock to it and crush the available resources.
If you don’t like the city or state you live in then move somewhere else like any other American. If Austin were to ever start cracking down on their homeless problems to not become an LA or San Fran then they too will become evil monsters and nothing that city previously did will matter.
We should bus them to the rural towns.
Oh I like this!! But the wording is off. Let's call it... let's see... a... concentration...... camp. Yea!
Nah just let them build shanty towns on the outside on the city limits. It’s about to be the 30s again so we can call them Whitmirevilles.
I know you're joking, but there have been similar real proposals in some cities. It never works out, because most homeless people try to stay in central areas instead of out by city limits, due to access to public transit, services, etc.
You can’t say the quiet part loud!
Maybe happy fun camps
Why is that controversial? He's right. That said, Houston is doing pretty well taking care of the homeless compared to other major cities from what I understand.
we can always send them to Austin…I hear they’re in need of more homeless 🤷🏽♀️
Of course I don’t want to see encampments.
I want to see the homeless in houses, clothed and fed.
Wild.
Would you be willing to house, clothe, and feed? If so post your address and we'll accommodate you. Thank you for your generosity.
I’ve I had the room I 100% would!
That's what everyone says. I doubt that every square inch of your place is taken up. Why not let them sleep on the floor in your living room? What about your backyard?
Because I rent a room in a house, so your statement is completely false.
Ah. So we can house people as long as it someone else paying for it and making room for them. Gotcha.
What’s wrong with the statement? We trying to turn Houston into San Fran?
Whitmire could give everyone a Million Dollars and most people would still bitch and complain.
It seems like a really small subset of people just hate this guy while what he's saying is common sense to most everyone else.
Right or wrong on this issue he objectively sucks. I’m sorry to tell you.
No, we just want him to acknowledge that there are people with experience and expertise and even (in this case) nationally recognized success. Instead he just announces his decisions based on his ignorant opinions, wasting money, ignoring everyone using a street who Isn’t in a car, and doing publicity stunts like his media event in Gulfton. He is using Metro money to rebuild streets over and above the 1/4 of the Transit sales tax that ALREADY goes to the city for streets.
That sales tax was approved by voters for transit and the 25% is plenty. But now Whitmire has killed the transit plan that the city needs and will fix streets, starting with the one serving River Oaks. He’s a disaster.
According to the Coalition for Homelessness of Houston and Harris County 2024 count, there are more than 3,000 residents experiencing homelessness in the Houston region, a figure that has dropped by 60 percent since 2011.
....
"The homeless problem has only gotten significantly worse since I was a child here," Sheffield told Chron on Wednesday.
Well which is it?
Both are correct statements. One is a quantifiable metric. The other is a subjective adjective that is influenced about how they have been told to look at the problem.
I mean, yeah, as long as we keep in mind the expert's definition of "worse" is completely different than how the majority of the world would define it and ignores (or even runs contrary to) measurable quantities such as "how many homeless people are there", then yes, Sheffield is correct. Unfortunately, without knowing what she means by "worse", such statement carries zero meaning. Which means the only thing printing it can do is confuse those who expect "worse" to mean what it's always meant.
the first one. Travel to almost any other city and you'll see what a homeless problem really looks like.
I mean, yes, I would rather there be no encampments. But I would hope for the inhabitants to have a pathway to healthy living.
“but that’s socialism”
Yeah, I agree with him. Nobody wants to see that shit
I understand it’s a complicated issue, but I definitely don’t want to see encampments.
Ano one wants to see them. It's hard to see the society, we as a nation, failed.
I don't want to see them either. I don't understand what's controversial about it.
He's right though I don't wanna see that shit. I hate how much people accommodate these people
The truth hurts. Nobody wants to see them.
… well blast away
No one wants to see encampments. But I don’t want to see it criminalized either. They need help
Let them have their encampments under all the highways where there is literally nothing and no one goes.
All the city needs to do is provide dumpsters and portable toilets to keep it sanitary which is nothing for costs. The city of houston spends over $1 billion a year on the worthless Houston Police Department that no one wants to pay for. At least help the poor and homeless. Any one of us could be poor and homeless one day, you never know. Even if you are rich right now.
Now start working on idiot drivers and pointless congestion issues during rush hour times. The main thing people actually want them to spend time and money on fixing.
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The only issue I see here is calling the people I share a freeway with "caring and compassionate."