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0 pointsshagie2y ago0 comments

I believe that you overestimate the ability / desire for someone to move even if there are more opportunities there.

A person's friends, family, social support... and frankly, modern culture can make moving a sticky problem.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/time-series/de...

The rate of people moving between states has dropped significantly.

https://www2.census.gov/library/visualizations/time-series/d...

The people moving within the same city has stayed rather constant, it is the distance moves that have dropped - https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizat...

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I believe that if you offered homeless people in Oakland a job and a house in Kentucky that they could pay off in 10 years while working as a dish washer, you would have very few takers.

I would also suggest that the town that has the dishwashing job in Kentucky - that business is likely to close in 5 years and there won't be any more unskilled jobs in the town and they'll be out of a job and unable to pay the mortgage, get foreclosed and be homeless again -- they know that story.

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't - homeless in California is known while a homeless in Kentucky is something else with even fewer opportunities out.

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TylerE2y ago

Plus that town in Kentucky is likely already dealing with a homelessness epidemic of their own before you start bussing people in from out of state.

Also ignoring that many people who live in California would face non-trivial threats to their health and livelihood if they were move to a regressive Bible Belt state. That is not a theoretical concern, but one born out by numerous tragedies.

giantg22y ago

"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't - homeless in California is known while a homeless in Kentucky is something else with even fewer opportunities out."

Sounds like when homeless people or people on various assistance sometimes turn down opportunities because they're afraid (sometimes rightfully do) that it will ruin one of their other assistance. How do you help people who don't want to be helped?

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