Supposedly we have enough vacant homes to house all the homeless in the country. Imagine the difference that could make if people were willing to do it. Even if developers gave just 10% of new construction it would do wonders. But with the "boot strap" mentality and "not in my backyard" it'll never go over with the populace. There's no incentive for the developer either. Le sigh
In the outskirts of downtown Dallas, not far from where I live, there is a building that has been empty and fenced off for more than a decade. Before that happened, it had operated as a hotel for two different hotel chains.
By use of either eminent domain or simply buying the property, Dallas would have access to a few hundred lockable rooms with bathrooms attached, plus facilities for on-site management, dining, event hosting, and excercise, on a city bus route just minutes from one of the airports and downtown proper.
Spain has an entire abandoned city with a now-silent airport.
Ciudad Valdeluz is a suburb of
Madrid, Spain. It was meant to be city of 30,000, but only 1,000 people took up residence there after construction halted in 2008 with 75% of the city unfinished due to the economic downturn. The few residents still there are being served by a supermarket, a corner shop and a medical center open twice a week. A security patrol watches over the deserted streets and the empty buildings. Not only could Spain help their own homeless issues, it could also be part of their solution for dealing with international refugees.
Japan is experiencing negative population growth, and has villages in that are in danger of becoming ghost towns. Same thing in Italy.
Thing is, “N.I.M.B.Y.” is a real force in decision making, and creative solutions and the power to implement them rarely go hand in hand, Ditto political willpower.
And it’s rare that people accept the answer that doing things a new way will be cheaper to the question “how will we pay for it?” Even when you can show them the numbers on a spreadsheet.
