Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand has suggested that the solution to the crisis may be a Finnish model, which is a ‘housing first’ approach that aims to give everyone a home.
But this is just common sense?
I don’t necessarily disagree, but why isn’t it widely adopted then?
If we guarantee enough housing for everyone, it stops being as valuable as a speculative asset. Which is bad for landlords (including the ones that work in legislation)
Also economists (who are usually wealthy enough to be able to landlord if they want to do so)… which means they’re financially incentivised to hold right wing economic views like “rent control doesn’t work, 9/10 economists recommend against it!” like it’s a toothpaste advert and economists who challenge that don’t get much spotlight in the mainstream.
Rent control doesn’t work, the economists are correct (Who woulda thunk it, but studying the way prices are determined is a valid field of academic study). Or rather it does work for some people but makes life harder for others, and isn’t nearly as good of an approach as people think.
That’s not what we were talking about here. We were talking about building enough housing to be able to guarantee it for everyone. That’s not rent control, that’s just investing in our housing supply.
That’s not what we were talking about here. We were talking about building enough housing to be able to guarantee it for everyone. That’s not rent control, that’s just investing in our housing supply.
The topic of this conversation follows from your statement:
Which is bad for landlords (including the ones that work in legislation)
i.e. landowners and people in power hold sway over the decision making process and are keeping us away from legislation that houses people. Unless I misread you. That’s why I brought up another example.
Rent control doesn’t work, the economists are correct (Who woulda thunk it, but studying the way prices are determined is a valid field of academic study). Or rather it does work for some people but makes life harder for others, and isn’t nearly as good of an approach as people think.
You clearly did not read the link, the person who wrote it is a PhD economist. Also, using one solution as a way to fix housing is naive, when we could (and should be, it’s horribly unaffordable for average people in urban areas, where most people in western countries live, already) be using many, including rent control.
Greed. And people just unwilling to change from what they have been grown accustomed to.
The same people who say give them homes don’t want to pay for it
Got a source for that or just ad hominem today?
The program has actually SAVED money, so this should be enough incentive for taxpayers to want to support it.
has suggested that the solution to the crisis may be a Finnish model, which is a ‘housing first’ approach that aims to give everyone a home.
Fixing homelessness by giving people a home! I’m not sure that’s going to work…facepalm
If you go on reddit threads for topics like this you will always see some people echoing conservative think tank talking points like how homeless people are homeless because of their own not only shortcomings but also volition. They will say that homeless people being put into homes will trash the place and leave for the streets despite every housing first experiment showing a very good sticking rate. In fact one dude is doing this in this very thread.
Almost every developed country has the resources to solve the homelessness “problem” for good. The problem is the lack of political will. The property owning parasite class are scared of what easily available homes will do to property prices. The employers are scared labour not being docile without the threat of homelessness. It’s just vampires all the way down profiting from people keeping destitute and on the streets.
You’re absolutely right, to add a bit more depth to the conversation, providing a home is the first step. Those homes need to be dispersed throughout a whole community so no single neighborhood has to handle the influx. As opposed to project housing. They need to be near services like welfare, public transportation, food banks, etc, and occupational opportunities to break the cycle of poverty. In many places that means a job but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.
I think the cause of all this is simple, a system where ultimately your only value is the wealth you generate instead of valuing the person we all are. I also think that the solution will be complicated. I’ve been fooled too many times by the simple solution to fall for it here.
If you go on reddit
You just need to go 5 posts from yours in this very thread to find one saying “homeless people didn’t agreed to the rules”. And one post beside yours “homeless will flock from all over the world”.
Yeah I saw that. Unsurprisingly it’s someone from a nordic “socialist” country.
It really should be catching the eye of all cities / countries with large homeless issues.
I am reading a book on supporting universal basic income, and it provided all examples of the times when the homeless were provided unconditional income and a home. Every cities in the world that did this have been successful in eliminating homelessness.
This is not a Finnish model, it’s common sense.
What’s the name of the book?
“Utopia for Realists”