[hueving]

Affordable housing will do absolutely nothing for the type of homeless people OP is talking about (drug addicts and the mentally ill). They are homeless because they have no stability in their life and would not be able to hold a job to pay rent regardless of the cost.

The class of homeless you are referring to is people pushed out of their homes due to rising prices and their limited income. These people (in my experience) are not the ones going around screaming at people an not bathing for months. You would most likely not even know they are homeless.

You are not talking about the same groups of people so you are talking past each other and nothing productive will come of your exchange.

[huac]

Hence why the commenter you're replying to supports single payer healthcare, to address mental health issues and addiction.

And having affordable housing obviously creates some stability in a person's life.

[hueving]

Having affordable housing only creates stability if they actually pay the rent.

From what I've observed, the problematic homeless people primarily need health care or to be put in a mental institution (for the really unstable ones). Affordable housing would certainly be nice, but having that isn't going to do anything for the ones that piss on the floor or jump off the balcony of a public library because they wouldn't be able to pay (or want to pay) any price for housing.

[emodendroket]

But what's the point of the distinction here? Are we really going to argue that the best thing we can do with mentally unstable people who are unable to hold a job is throw them on the streets?

[Turing_Machine]

I don't think anyone is arguing that. "Throwing them on the streets" and "discouraging them from hanging out in the library unless they are actually using it" are two different things entirely.

[lenkite]

No,I don't want homeless kids from being discouraged from hanging out in the library just because they stink and make rich people uncomfortable. Just because some folks don't acknowledge the dark side of the USA, where is little/no support for your fellow citizens who fall off the train, doesn't mean you can grind them down even more.

[emodendroket]

Ultimately trying to devise measures to keep homeless people out of a library is curing a symptom rather than a problem.

[Turing_Machine]

Only "rich people" are bothered by smelly, loud, violent people, and only "kids" are homeless?

Uh-huh.

Can the histrionic rhetoric, dude. It's not working.

[mbfg]

Perhaps not only, but i'm guessing there's a strong correlation there.

[Turing_Machine]

You're totally wrong. And I'm not guessing.