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The parts of the city that don't have many homeless people are still old and decaying looking compared to modest Chinese cities.
Check back on China's gleaming rail system and newly constructed cities in 50 or 100 years.
You can bet it will look older and more tired, an ageing snapshot of a once in a century construction boom. Especially if China experiences several lost decades like Japan, which is increasingly likely.
Public transit gets in the way of selling cars which goes against maximizing consumption.
Additionally there is a lack of infrastructure and culture to keep public transit clean.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7fyY9hBNuAxXTLZx5
So I'm not totally convinced the problem in the US is just about consumption.
I fail to see how public transit to shopping center in Russia is counter to my point that America likes to consume cars and that better public transit in the U.S. would hurt the selling (i.e consumption) of cars.
Also, again:
> Additionally there is a lack of infrastructure and culture to keep public transit clean.
Could you expand on why you think China will have lost decades?
Demographics. Though America may save it from itself.
[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/12/05/key-facts...
Instead we could talk about returning to the horrors of the involuntary hospitalization era pre-Reagan, or we could talk about the current push to incarcerate the entire class in order to use them for forced labor (Grants Pass v. Johnson, 2024).
The most humane solution would be to house them and give them a robust social assistance network, of course, but that’s obviously so far off the table that it fell out the Overton Window.
Two exceptions (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_the_50_lar... ): Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.
Full disclosure: I don’t know much about them, and I doubt anyone in this thread cares enough to merit a deep dive. A little light googling suggests both struggle with homelessness (not surprising: both tend to have mild winters). DFW seems to take in essence the liberal approach: social services support with some encampment clearing and forced transport away from the city; OKC seems to be working on a rehousing program (how progressive of them) combined with faith-based charities and private/public partnerships.
For context I'm a center-left person, but at this point I'm pretty fed up with the standard California Democrat stance of simultaneously saying that housing affordability is really important but also using many tools of government to actually block housing construction.
Yes, opponents love exaggerating the geographical extent of this crisis. But, it is that dire in the worst hotspots. Unfortunately, these hotspots also happen to be high-foot-traffic commuter hubs and downtown locations. Compassionate methods should be the carrot to a much needed stick. The stick being - Punishment for crimes and involuntary hospitalization of those too far gone.
I would like to talk about the horrors of involuntary hospitalization. Which issues do you think will return ? What's worse than a life that's indistinguishable from zombie-hood on the streets of SF ?