[pandaman]

Getting a person a room is, indeed, cheaper than running the whole criminal justice system if there had been such a person, giving a room to whom would stop all the homeless crime I'd be first to pay for their room my own personal money. What you meant, I believe, was running a free housing program for everyone, not a room for one person, right? And then the one-time cost is not one-time anymore, as people will be constantly demanding free housing, and modest upkeep is not so modest especially with larger build. And you still need to run the criminal justice system.

I am shooting in the dark here, but are you even aware of the various free housing programs that the US already had tried in the past[1]? Those did not solve the issues and the proponents blame them being too cheap on the failure.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidized_housing_in_the_Unit...

[klyrs]

I grew up a block away from housing projects in Seattle, where many of my friends lived growing up. They were recently demolished, the majority of their residents sent packing (hello, homeless population!) and the developers who were granted the land sold most of the houses at market rate. Yeah, I'm familiar with what's been tried.

When a halfassed attempt fails, do not conclude that a full and honest effort would also fail.

[pandaman]

So if I got you right, you are saying that not enough money had been spent on the government housing (after insisting it will cost mere pittance to build and maintain)? These programs were not cheap already so whatever you propose should cost even more.

[Cupertino95014]

"True communism has never been tried."

Maybe look at WHY government-built housing is always so lousy. Saying "We need to change the whole system" is just a cop-out.

[klyrs]

> Maybe look at WHY government-built housing is always so lousy.

Thank you, this is a crucial aspect of Harlem that make it such a shining example in my mind. It was undertaken in a period when human dignity was given more weight. And while the apartments themselves seem stark to modern tastes, they were built about a century ago and in their time, contributed to a cultural renaissance.

A big problem is penny-pinching. You can sacrifice a ton of quality and end up only saving a few points on a total build cost, and paying way more in lifetime maintenance and replacement cost. Modern conservativism is penny wise, pound foolish, and that mindset is ever-present.

> Saying "We need to change the whole system" is just a cop-out.

Right on. But I didn't say that and I don't see anybody else saying that here.