[5DFractalTetris]

What about individuals who prefer tent dwelling and regular work (paid and volunteer) but eschew both illegal drug use and unemployment?

I have a tent I could call a home but am not entirely comfortable crashing wherever I can, although generally I like being outside as much as possible. Tent dwelling is also historically well-respected, hard housing being the niche of farmers and royalty. I'd go as far to say that if people in tents aren't safe it's not a good neighborhood, because tents are fragile. They're also not garbage: some of them are fireproof and UV resistant with two or three shells. And, if you've never built housing, I can tell you: it is a huge chore for hundreds of people, including chemical workers, lumberjacks, metalworkers, and coal miners.

Why not build a Black Rock City where the Burn never stops? If cities sponsored that niche, the gig economy would ramp up to "unstoppable machine" instantly. Sociologically, there's not much difference between a tent city at a festival and an apartment building with a range of incomes, in terms of deviancy and community struggles. From a housing and urban development perspective, some of the new textiles are better and more sustainable than industrial construction.

[defen]

> Why not build a Black Rock City where the Burn never stops?

You know, that would actually be a fascinating thing to see. I doubt it will ever happen given how litigious our society is, but that seems preferable to what we're doing now. San Francisco spends about $250 million on homeless services[1], but you'd never know from walking around. You could probably fund a non-stop Burn with that; the budget for a 65,000 person burn for a week is 37 million[2]. You'd have fewer people and less overhead so I think it would work.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_San_Franci...

[2] https://burningman.org/expenses/expenses-2016/

[googlemike]

San Jose had one of sorts, iirc it was destroyed because it was a hotbed of assaults, drugs, rapes, and pollution (illegal fires and dumping).

[prawn]

How coordinated was it though? I also think part of the solution is to provide something more appealing to the mentally ill homeless and the lifestyle-homeless. There is a lot of space an hour or two from most major cities that could be used in a project like this.

Something of a commune, heavily staffed with mental health professionals and with very attentive services (medical, cleaning, garbage). Encourage the more willing to undertake/share those roles. Make it feel somewhat self-organised and free.

Run a very loose "street school" - open-air where possible, 1-2 hours a day, variety of interesting topics. (I'm surprised they don't try doing that in SF.)

[masonic]

"The Jungle". Over 618 tons of trash (not counting hazardous waste) were removed upon its closure.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-silicon-valley...

[masonic]

  Why not build a Black Rock City 

Burners are mandated to be self-sufficient and leave no trace; only chemical toilets are provided. If that ethic was practiced by this population, there would be many more options.