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Comments
NIMBY
Everyone: We have to do something about this. but as long as it's not near me
Seriously folks. Trying to spread this out isn't working, these folks will just congregate back there. The problem doesn't go away because you don't want it near you.
Who knew, . . . .
. . . . that Widett Circle has NIMBYs.
Don't worry, Mayor Wu says that the bridge to Long Island will be ready in 4 years.
This is nowhere near Widett Circle
looks like it's on the Boston Medical Center campus.
This problem won't go away by making unhoused addicts move
I think the South End has seen its fair share of this misery, and there appears no real end in sight, as four years in street life/shelter life/new beds at 725 Mass Ave, is a lifetime for many who are sick and suffering. The orbit around BMC will remain. We need the governor to listen to Mayor Wu and find funding for pathways to permanent housing for people.
It's my opinion and apparently backed up by some research that permanent housing first will have the downstream effect of creating greater chance at recovery and treatment for those who are so deeply addicted to opioids, meth, tranq, etc that are all appearing on the Avenue. It will help addicts to keep away from the dealers who prey on them. Waiting four years for a bridge to put people back out on Long Island is not practical and if that is the future plan, an interim plan needs to come together.
yeah
I watched a WCVB clip about a tour and a presser Wu had. My heart sank when it was stated it would take 4 years to rebuild the bridge and rehab all the buildings there (that look like they have been left to rot). They have a lot of work to do there to even bring that place even remotely ready for patients.
The problem with 'pathways to permanent housing' is simply that. There's just not any housing for them. People who don't have addiction problems (and have the cash to do so) are having affordable housing issues too. Not sure how we can magically make housing appear for folks with addiction issues. (and lets be truthful here, who would a landlord rent to.. an addict coming out of recovery who's short on cash or some professional just looking for a place to live)
So unless we 'build baby build' on a 10 fold in a matter of months, we're in the same boat as Long Island. (meaning 'it will take years to get done').
The bridge will only be a
The bridge will only be a small fix. Fentanyl has changed the game.
God forbid they do anything
God forbid they do anything to the dealers.
Uh, what?
No one has ever thought of simply arresting dealers, genius! That would definitely solve the problem, but it will be a tough battle that could last years. Like a war...Hey, we can call it a war on drugs! Has anyone thought of that?
No clearly your preferred
No clearly your preferred approach is working.
My Preferred Approach
Non-congregate housing for all who need it has been tried? I didn't know! They should tell all those people living in tents.
I'm also a big proponent of
I'm also a big proponent of to everyone according to their needs. It's just that I think fentanyl dealers need to be in jail.
Strawman
Me, I think fentanyl dealers should be absolutely free to prey on everyone!
CA spent 18B(!) in the last four years
Why didn’t they just house everyone instead? Because it doesn’t work
Studies Show Housing is the Cheapest Solution
https://endhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Cost-Savings-from...
Just like preventive care is cheaper than going to the emergency room, giving someone a stable home is cheaper than paying for all of the other consequences of treating the chronic homeless.
Housing first then all the
Housing first then all the other problems.
Harm Reduction
Is an abysmal failure and yet we continue to practice this intervention. We have built it and they have come! It boggles the mind that injecting drugs in the public domain is acceptable, that defecation in public is ignored and that the assualts and massive trash problems as well as the dangers of intoxucates people wondering into the street continue to be the norm. Sheriff Tompkins suggested a safe site within the SBHOC for folks to get away from the mayhem on the street, but it was rejected as inhumane. The city continues to move the decl chairs on a sinking ship. Perhaps one of these days we will take a look at zero tolerance or at least less than 100% tolerance for this type of so called harm reduction treatment. Stand up loud South End
I'll give you part of this
This is absolutely true - this is a regional and national problem that the state and federal government don't want to tackle so it's left to cities like Boston to try and solve. How many people at Mass & Cass are from other parts of Massachusetts or New England but came to Boston because that's where all the services are?
Yes, Boston can (and should) do more (and harm reduction is a part of that, actually), but we also need other areas to step up and start actually providing services for their citizens rather than giving them a bus ticket to Boston and then wiping their hands clean.
We have a few empty office buildings around the state
We could repurpose a percentage of these empty office buildings in Boston as well as the surrounding smaller cities and suburbs , ideally near town centers to create a combination of mental health centers for those with and without addiction as well as turning a percentage into housing and then turn some into training centers to teach people skills they could use to get a job!
And we should increase the tax on booze and gas to pay for some of the upfront costs to get this up and running.
The NIMBY groups would have to be appeased somehow though....