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Downtown Residences Nixed


Subdude

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You seem to be saying that someone down on their luck can't develop a substance abuse problem to cope.

I have a substance abuse problem. Cheap box wine and expensive bitter beers are my achilles heal, but I don't allow those two things to dictate my life or my residence. It just makes me post offensive stuff on HAIF late on Friday nights.

And so you know, I'm all for people self-medicating rather than getting proper treatment, but I'd prefer for them to do it not in my backyard.

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I have a substance abuse problem. Cheap box wine and expensive bitter beers are my achilles heal, but I don't allow those two things to dictate my life or my residence. It just makes me post offensive stuff on HAIF late on Friday nights.

And so you know, I'm all for people self-medicating rather than getting proper treatment, but I'd prefer for them to do it not in my backyard.

They're already downtown in reams. They're either in my front yard or they're in this development. I prefer the latter but the developer doesn't want to do it anymore.

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You seem to be saying that someone down on their luck can't develop a substance abuse problem to cope.

to say that they develop substance abuse problems to cope would mean they are developing substance abuse problems to deal with their problems, it seems to me that most people develop substance abuse problems to get away from their problems.

that aside, I think you're right, there could be perfectly normal people, put in extra-ordinary situations that they cannot cope with, and they turn to drugs, or alcohol as an outlet.

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They're already downtown in reams. They're either in my front yard or they're in this development. I prefer the latter but the developer doesn't want to do it anymore.

I don't know why I'm worried about it. I don't live downtown, I live in Greenway. If you want them in your backyard, then more power to you.

Edit: My transient concerns only crop up on Sundays when Joel Osteen's church lets out.

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I don't know why I'm worried about it. I don't live downtown, I live in Greenway. If you want them in your backyard, then more power to you.

Edit: My transient concerns only crop up on Sundays when Joel Osteen's church lets out.

My point is that hundreds of homeless people are already in downtown, sleeping on corners and church steps. If they were sleeping in a building in a bed that would be better for me and better for them.

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My point is that hundreds of homeless people are already in downtown, sleeping on corners and church steps. If they were sleeping in a building in a bed that would be better for me and better for them.

No doubt, but homeless shelters don't ever need a "No Vacancy" sign. If this was built in a different neighborhood, then there would still be people sleeping in the beds.

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The same point holds true as wrt the Ashby proposed high-rise. Without some sort of zoning ordinance to give a public voice to land use, unpopular projects such as this or Ashby are going to be subject to death by informal NIMBY-ism.

Speaking of which, where is the pro-Ashby crowd demanding that the developers be allowed to build this without interference?

Here. I am pro-Ashby highrise and anti-developments_that_keep_homeless_or_other_dangerous_or_unwanted_individuals_near_my_house/family.

The bottom line is that nobody wants these kinds of people near them.

My point is that hundreds of homeless people are already in downtown, sleeping on corners and church steps. If they were sleeping in a building in a bed that would be better for me and better for them.

I dont know why they pick downtown. There are plenty of nice parks in katy and nice scenery in the woodlands. And I think there are already two shelters in downtown?

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I dont know why they pick downtown. There are plenty of nice parks in katy and nice scenery in the woodlands. And I think there are already two shelters in downtown?

Downtown has the best access to public transportation. Downtown is about to lose a shelter when the YMCA moves. All the guys that stay there will find themselves back on downtown streets.

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Downtown has the best access to public transportation. Downtown is about to lose a shelter when the YMCA moves. All the guys that stay there will find themselves back on downtown streets.

I'm unsure why a homelessperson would care about public transportation.

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Downtown has the best access to public transportation. Downtown is about to lose a shelter when the YMCA moves. All the guys that stay there will find themselves back on downtown streets.

There's a great shelter at 701 Franklin that'll take 'em in.

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Its 701 San Jacinto. And we need our jail spaces for violent offenders, not people who are merely homeless.

You're right. I meant San Jacinto. I just google mapped 701 Franklin though, and it appears that address is assigned to the bridge over Buffalo Bayou. It seems 701 Franklin would make a good homeless shelter after all.

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From what did you conclude that they have no money to begin with? Whatever brought you to this conclusion, it is an incorrect one.

True. They have just enough to buy cigarettes and cheap liquor. I doubt bus fare is high on their list of priorities. Provided there is one.

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True. They have just enough to buy cigarettes and cheap liquor. I doubt bus fare is high on their list of priorities. Provided there is one.

Recommend that you ride the bus sometimes, other than the cozy park and ride coaches. Or the train. You will encounter all sorts of people, including homeless.

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Interesting. How can you tell they are homeless?

From the fact that they return to their stoop after/before a bus ride. There's a building across the street from Houston House on Fannin where I see one come from/return to on the 1 Bus (Medical Center).

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Recommend that you ride the bus sometimes, other than the cozy park and ride coaches. Or the train. You will encounter all sorts of people, including homeless.

Some busses are outright scary. Have you ever ridden the bus from IAH to Downtown? The very beginning of the line has about a dozen stops in Greenspoint. I don't know if it picks up homeless people there, but it certainly picks up smelly people.

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Recommend that you ride the bus sometimes, other than the cozy park and ride coaches. Or the train. You will encounter all sorts of people, including homeless.

Those are called the ones who are not honoring the honor system. METRO won't arrest them because it jams up officers. They tell them to get off, but they just get right back on.

Wow, such compassion on this board.

Maybe there'd be less piss-smell if we had MORE housing options for the poor. Downtown also makes perfect sense because it is the transportation hub of the city and also provides easy access to most governmental services.

Additionally, housing like the one proposed generally tend to be VERY strict. This wouldn't be a crazy drug-filled magnet but rather a place for transition for people who are down on their luck. Most would be very surprised to learn how many people are one paycheck away from the street.

I'd be more curious in to this solution, but it seems that a want to be better is the first requirement to getting homeless off the streets, into jobs, and into stable housing. I find that a hard concept to swallow when I see homeless people who would rather panhandle in the pouring rain. It makes me think that they are very committed to that lifestyle.

There is a lot missing from the article. The project was predominantly a supportive housing facility. The proposed development was made up almost exclusively of 350 square foot apartments. The proposed market rate rent would have been approximately $700 per month for those who were not receiving some type of assistance. Furthermore, the project did not include any parking for the residents. The only office space was for the developer's personal offices. The only proposed retail was an "internet cafe" to serve the residents. As for the "market rate" portion of the tenants, the developer thought that police officers, fireman, and teachers would be the likely demographic to live in 350 square foot apartments, without cars, while paying $700 per month rent, and sharing the building with those "who were formerly homeless."

Don't these issues in bold seem to be the ones that careful downtown development would want to avoid?

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Those are called the ones who are not honoring the honor system. METRO won't arrest them because it jams up officers. They tell them to get off, but they just get right back on.

Metro issues a citation and if they have unpaid citations they are arrested. I've seen it happen several times and they're out in full force lately.

I'd be more curious in to this solution, but it seems that a want to be better is the first requirement to getting homeless off the streets, into jobs, and into stable housing. I find that a hard concept to swallow when I see homeless people who would rather panhandle in the pouring rain. It makes me think that they are very committed to that lifestyle.

There are all different sorts of homeless, some are "career homeless" and others are not.

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From the fact that they return to their stoop after/before a bus ride. There's a building across the street from Houston House on Fannin where I see one come from/return to on the 1 Bus (Medical Center).

They return to their stop after/before a bus ride?

I'm a little unclear what that means... please clarify.

Metro issues a citation and if they have unpaid citations they are arrested. I've seen it happen several times and they're out in full force lately.

There are all different sorts of homeless, some are "career homeless" and others are not.

A homeless is a homeless is a homeless. They are all the same.

If one find himself homeless... then chances are, he deserves to be homeless. They are all the same.

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They return to their stop after/before a bus ride?

I'm a little unclear what that means... please clarify.

Nah you're not, you're just nitpicking a minor thing because for some reason you don't want to admit that homeless ride the bus. Sometimes I see the gentleman getting off the bus and returning to the area where I see him sleeping. Sometimes I see him coming from that direction to board the bus.

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Nah you're not, you're just nitpicking a minor thing because for some reason you don't want to admit that homeless ride the bus. Sometimes I see the gentleman getting off the bus and returning to the area where I see him sleeping. Sometimes I see him coming from that direction to board the bus.

No. I'm not nitpicking. I thought you misspelled "stop" but I see now that you really did mean "stoop" or a place where they sleep. Thanks for clearing that up though. See? It didn't hurt to clarify.

Either way. This part of downtown certainly is in no need to build something like this.

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A homeless is a homeless is a homeless. They are all the same.

If one find himself homeless... then chances are, he deserves to be homeless. They are all the same.

Truly.

I'm a "Don't feed the animals" when it comes to homeless people, but even *I* know that there are differences on how and why people become homeless.

Perhaps you should elaborate which "homeless" people deserve to be homeless?

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Some busses are outright scary. Have you ever ridden the bus from IAH to Downtown? The very beginning of the line has about a dozen stops in Greenspoint. I don't know if it picks up homeless people there, but it certainly picks up smelly people.

While that may have been true before, the downtown IAH express makes no stops between the stop across the street from the Metro downtown transit center and IAH--not even a second stop downtown.

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