The factors underlying homelessness are numerous and varied, ranging from complex economic issues to equally complex mental health conditions.
And while there are no simple solutions, the situation is one that requires thoughtful examination and an expansive societal response. Because of that, The Columbian is launching an occasional editorial series examining the root causes and the proposed reactions to homelessness in our community and beyond.
There is nothing new about homelessness. For a century or so, American communities had what were colloquially known as “poor farms,” typically county-owned areas where the downtrodden and the down-on-their-luck could turn when they had no place else to go. The establishment of the Social Security system during The Great Depression helped lead to the eventual disappearance of poor farms. The factors that lead to homelessness, however, have lingered.
Now, homelessness has returned to the forefront of social issues, hitting home in Clark County in a forceful manner in recent months. Tenants have been evicted from apartment complexes by landlords looking to renovate the dwellings — and raise the rent beyond the means of their low-income inhabitants. People in need of help have set up a tent city near downtown Vancouver. Pervasive mental illness has exacerbated the difficulty of dealing with the problem.
These are mere symptoms of a societal disease that is costly to address and even more costly to ignore. In addition to the monetary expenditure of providing public assistance, there are ancillary costs such as increased law enforcement needs for homeless populations, or even the impact that homelessness has upon schoolchildren who don’t know where they will be sleeping at night.
It also is a societal disease that elicits a variety of opinions. While some might not view a growing number of homeless people as a problem, opting instead to assign individual blame upon those who are unable to afford or maintain housing, the issue involves more complexity than simplistic dismissals. It also demands complex solutions, ones that countless municipalities have been dealing with for years.
In 2005, for example, Seattle launched a 10-year plan to address homelessness, hoping to banish the condition from one of the nation’s most prosperous and vibrant cities. But one decade and $1 billion in expenditures later, Seattle has what is estimated to be the third-largest homeless population in the country. On Wednesday, for another example, Portland mayor Charlie Hales asked the city council to declare a state of emergency over his city’s homeless problem and lack of housing, a declaration that would allow the city to circumvent zoning regulations in an attempt to find immediate relief.
While homelessness typically is associated with urban centers, Vancouver is not immune. The city has established an Affordable Housing Task Force to study and recommend policies that can address the issue. With a rental vacancy rate estimated at 2 percent — among the lowest in the nation — Vancouver is in the midst of a painful housing crunch.
Each of these factors deserves a place in the discussion of how the nation with the world’s most productive economy can allow a vast segment of the population to sleep in parks or in cars. So, let’s talk.
