If you want to educate yourself about the nature and scope of the issue there is a new book out that examines the structural roots of the homelessness crisis.
Over the course of the book, the researchers illustrate how absolute rent levels and rental vacancy rates are associated with regional rates of homelessness. Many other common explanations—drug use, mental illness, poverty, or local political context—fail to account for regional variation.
Do your collaborators account for the abject, utter failure of the federal (as opposed to local and state) government in it's responsibility for the welfare of it's citizens and it's not being held accountable for that failure? The willful blindness to not see that elephant in the room by so many is astounding to me. This is a problem that needs to be dealt with nationally, not in a piecemeal fashion by ill-funded and equiped localities. The federal government is the deep pockets, that can print money and carry massive deficits(unlike state and local) such that if this were a lawsuit the lawyers would be going after like flies on shit. I guess it's just so much easier( and in the end pointless and futile) to simply blame Eugene or the city of your choice.
Federal policy has definitely played a role in getting us to where we are today, and should play a role in getting us out of the mess we're in.
Although, national level legislative politics are currently beyond dysfunctional and are unlikely to do things like reform the mortgage system or implement a practical housing guarantee.
A primary roll IMO, but as you say given the perpetual clown show in DC pigs will fly first. So things will only get worse since its unsolvable at the local(or even state) level and no amount of debate will change that.
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u/TormentedTopiary Aug 04 '22
If you want to educate yourself about the nature and scope of the issue there is a new book out that examines the structural roots of the homelessness crisis.
It's called Homelessness is a housing problem. and it's a collaboration between an academic and a data journalist.
A quote from the website: