I made an observation tonight, as I was driving back from a restaurant tonight. Why are there soo many homeless people in this town? Alberta is the wealthiest province in Canada, jobs opportunities are everywhere, yet hobo's are everywhere you go.

Now this I drove through to get to and from the restaurant wasn’t the nicest area, but to see dozens and dozens of cracked out (I can say this because I saw the pipe) bums walking in the middle of the street, it kinda hits you pretty hard. Now you probably think that I just rolled down my window and screamed, "Get a job!". But I did no such thing. I was too stunned to see how bad it has gotten in my town.

I have traveled all over Europe. Slept in train stations, shady hostels, and one nite I didnt go to sleep. (I should point out I did stay in nice hostels/hotels too in the same context). It really opened my eyes to the differences between Europeans and North Americans. In my case, which may not be 100% correct, I saw a lot less homeless in European cities. I spent 3 weeks in Rome and maybe saw a handful less fortunate folk. I know there out their, and if I went looking for them I'd probably find them. I know there is probably a few reasons for this. Rome is a tourist town and the Policia probably shoe them away from the rich folk. Now, if you walk downtown Calgary or Edmonton you see a bum or some guy asking you for change every block. What are we missing here, that Europeans have?

My answer to this question is low income housing. We have no place to house poverty line families. The reason why I didn't see vagrants hassling me for money or smoking crack on the street in Rome is because they have their own quarter. Bum Island if you will. There is basically a poor area (which is not really a solution) where all unsightly folk stay. They have everything they need, and generally stay in that part of town. Edmonton on the other hand does have poor neighbourhoods, but no real housing or community for low income families.

Alberta has a 1.5 + billion dollar surplus, and probably would make even more if we didn’t have to give it all to Quebec, but thats another story. There is lots of space to put up housing in town. In Edmonton alone 15-20 high-rise condos/business towers are underway. The city is being revitalized and renovated. Yet with all this big money, we still have all these homeless people.

Why cant we just house these people, and give them a chance to have a life besides the street. Maybe Im wrong, probably rambling at this point. None the less, its sad to see such things.

Ever read Jack Layton's book Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis? I've read it a couple times. :fonz:

Kan Da I must say your new avatar is much hotter

Even for a middle income person these new condo towers in Edmonton aren't really an option. Luckily, we've got Mr. Mandel running the place now, with his councils brand new "Building the Capital City" plan. Its goals are to provide more low income housing and to revitalize East Jasper, among other things.

http://www.edmonton.ca/portal/server.pt/ga...apital+City.htm

I'm sure if someone in Cowtown spoke up, Bronco would do his best to get some low income housing going as well.

There is also another way of solving homelessness through "Transition Houses" as I like to call them. Places the homeless can stay, take a shower, get a haircut/shave, sleep, and live-in until they get a job. Then when they've got some security in their new job, they could help the guy/girl find a new place to live.
This kind of thing would cost mucho dinero, but if we can give prisoners this kind of treatment, then the homeless should get it too.

Off topic - does anyone else remember the band of thrash metal pre-teens called "Old Skull"? They were around in the early 90's. They had a song called "Homeless". I can't remember what their lyrical solution to the problem was (and I can't locate the lyrics online).

I remember they were like 9yr. olds I think....

Partial lyrics here

:eyebrow:
really... really.. odd