I've been thinking about the housing crisis and homelessness a lot lately. It's getting worse and worse in every major city in the US. I keep wondering how long things will continue to get worse before there's finally a state response to it. 5 years? 10 years? Because there's clearly no interesting in providing housing or healthcare for anyone living on the streets, so it'll be a kind of purge instead.

I know this article says the plan is to help people with counseling and permanent, housing, but let's look at the weasel words they use:

The plan also contains measures aimed at connecting people who shelter in the subways to mental-health services and to permanent housing.

Connecting them to what mental-health services? What permanent housing? And connect them how? Technically, if I hand a flyer to someone that has a phone number to a psychiatrist and a section 8 application, that would fulfill those measures.

The plan contains a raft of proposals designed to help those who shelter underground — many of whom struggle with mental illness, substance abuse or both — get effective treatment and find permanent housing.

So the plan is just full of suggestions? Is there any method to enforce the funding and fulfillment of theses suggestions? If not, it's toothless.

The plan promises to expand the availability of supportive housing and reduce “the amount of paperwork it takes to apply.”

Ah yes, the "availability" word. A Porsche dealership is available to me because I can walk into one, but it doesn't mean I can afford their cars.