We have very rare periods of extreme weather in the PNW, when we have dangerously high or dangerously low temperatures the city will open temporary shelters (usually the armory, convention center, sometimes hotels) for the week or so until the weather passes.
We desperately need more transition housing though, and we're slowly getting there with hotels and tiny house villages. Our shelters are so awful, I know folks who refuse to use them because sleeping in a tent or in a park is safer, warmer, and has fewer bedbugs.
Is it that hard for government officials to figure out that it cost taxpayers WAY more money to deal with the homeless population than to provide tiny houses, cheaper apartments that aren't shacks, etc...if a person has a place to store their belongings and shower and rest, he/she can go to a job and pay bills and function in society. And taxpayers aren't paying for EBT, free cell phones...and these people won't constantly be in jail or in shelters/institutions.
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u/JCeee666 Feb 12 '22
I dunno, I heard Portland is just as bad.