<story><title>Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing</title><url>https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/12/18/finland-has-slashed-homelessness-the-rest-of-europe-is-failing</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>austincheney</author><text>The city of Austin, TX could be a case study of what not to do.  I was remotely employed to company with offices in Austin in 2014-2015 and it was awesome to visit and walk around down town.  I always had a blast.&lt;p&gt;I visited Austin in 2019 and there were homeless people EVERYWHERE.  Every green space and nearly every street corner seemed to be littered with homeless people.  The difference crystal clear.  Something in the handling of the homeless problem had failed in that city.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>burntoutfire</author><text>&amp;gt; Something in the handling of the homeless problem had failed in that city.&lt;p&gt;Or, the homeless are recent migrants from other areas? At least where i live, the homeless all congregate in biggest wealthiest cities, because it&amp;#x27;s easier to beg, their presence blends in more and also local communities are more atomized so they don&amp;#x27;t fight off the homeless as hard as in smaller places. I&amp;#x27;ve heard a story of one homeless guy who have recently been sleeping on a bus stop near my home - he&amp;#x27;s basically travelling from one big city center to another, and stays as long as the police doesn&amp;#x27;t chase him off the area.</text></comment>
<story><title>Finland has slashed homelessness; the rest of Europe is failing</title><url>https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/12/18/finland-has-slashed-homelessness-the-rest-of-europe-is-failing</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>austincheney</author><text>The city of Austin, TX could be a case study of what not to do.  I was remotely employed to company with offices in Austin in 2014-2015 and it was awesome to visit and walk around down town.  I always had a blast.&lt;p&gt;I visited Austin in 2019 and there were homeless people EVERYWHERE.  Every green space and nearly every street corner seemed to be littered with homeless people.  The difference crystal clear.  Something in the handling of the homeless problem had failed in that city.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jseliger</author><text>Most American cities will do absolutely anything to reduce homelessness except build more housing: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.mcsweeneys.net&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;i-will-do-anything-to-end-homelessness-except-build-more-homes&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.mcsweeneys.net&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;i-will-do-anything-to-en...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;California cities are probably the worst offenders: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;seliger.com&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;30&amp;#x2F;l-digs-hole-slowly-economics-fills-back-proposition-hhh-facilities-program&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;seliger.com&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;30&amp;#x2F;l-digs-hole-slowly-economics-...&lt;/a&gt;, but even Austin is underbuilding relative to demand.</text></comment>