It’s not just Los Angeles and San Francisco anymore. A number of large U.S. cities are seeing an influx of homeless people living on the city streets.
After several years of steady decline in the homeless population, it increased in 2017 and 2018, according to a study from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
And the homeless are becoming increasingly visible and vocal in the largest cities—and, importantly, aggressive.
Ironically, the rise in homelessness comes at a time when unemployment is at historic lows, and millions of jobs are going unfilled.
USA Today recently reported on a data review by 24/7 Wall St. of that HUD report, estimating the number of homeless in the nation’s 50 largest cities.
New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston lead the pack. California has four in the top 15, but so does Texas—Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and especially Austin.
What nearly all of the largest cities have in common is they are run by left-leaning elected officials whose policies and willingness to ignore the problem has created an inner-city crisis.
For months we’ve heard story after story of San Francisco and LA streets overrun with feces, urine, trash, needles, rats and other vermin. While many of the homeless are non-violent, others harass and even assault passersby.
While the homeless must be treated humanely and with decency, they cannot be allowed to turn city streets into homeless camps. Fortunately, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott is trying to do something about it.
The governor recently sent a letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler and the Austin City Council demanding they address the problem by November 1. If they do not take action, the governor plans to deal with the problem:
As you know, Texans are increasingly lodging serious complaints stemming from the City of Austin’s policy about camping in public areas and sleeping on the streets. According to news reports, businesses have struggled to keep people from sleeping on sidewalks, sometimes with violent results. Growing homeless encampments adjacent to roadways put lives at risk by endangering the flow of traffic. Feces and used needles have reportedly started accumulating at alarming rates. …
As the Governor of Texas, I have the responsibility to protect the health and safety of all Texans, including Austin residents. Further inaction by you and the Austin City Council will leave me no choice other than to use the tools available to the State of Texas to ensure that people are protected from health and safety concerns caused by Austin’s homelessness policies.
Mayors consider it a violation of local control when their state elected officials threaten to take action that the mayors refuse to take.
But the states are well within their rights to do so. And it appears that Abbott intends to exercise that prerogative.
October 22, 2019