This article, evoked an anger inside of me. This war with homelessness, and how the country, bureaucracy, and its people deal with it. In Northern California (four hours north of the bay, half progressive, half very backwards) they actually had a march against the homeless a few years ago. With terrible, obscene signs demanding the homeless leave- or else. A few days before there was a homeless man shot on the courthouse steps that remained untouched- blood spilled- for a night. Although Seattle- still in the pacific northwest- the city where people do not j-walk, Aggressive agriculture needs to be stopped. Homelessness is rampant on the west coast, in part due to mental health system, and how we deal with drug abuse. Tearing down a camp to put up bike racks? You are actually taking down someones home in one of the only consistently dry areas in Seattle for a space for your bike? Putting spikes on the streets to prevent sleeping? Where are the activists- and the defenders? Where is the community outreach? This is not acceptable and the designer should be ashamed, also the city should be ashamed for being blatantly aggressive. I don’t understand where this hatred for the homelessness comes from, sure some are choosing to live on the streets, but the vast majority are on the streets because they have no where else to go, or serious health issues. The president is actually thinking about cutting the SNAP program and giving boxes out, which is INSANE- if you are homeless that box is probably going to be filled of cans (which is extremely heavy- also to heat the food up, one needs a kitchen and a place to store the food). I don’t really have a solution besides a mass exodus (which is kind of ableist, because not everyone can get up and leave so easily) homeless communities can thrive, although things get messy when someone comes and litters (because you only see the litter that is left behind) and a lot of people on the streets have substance issues, which the current system doesn’t help- or support…. Also, I think the word homeless is kind of aggressive because maybe they do have a home, but they can’t go back to it. Some cites ban sharing food in public, and are trying to get rid of community gardens to transform them into tasteless condos (aggressive architecture)…..
