Can We Just Bus Them to Durham?

I guess it's trolling to you folks when someone who does not agree with you and has a different point of view. That is one way to define the word.

You folks who live in some other world really should consider that not everyone thinks like you...thank God.

Todd

Ruby

That is complete BS. I am welcoming the shelter down the road from me. It's you who is whining about it.

And we don't drive SUV's in our hood, we all own Hummers.

I challenge you to research issues before spewing BS and that is my challenge. It's you guys who could use a little Googling before asserting all kinds of crap.

Todd

It's not fair to make people ride the bus in Durham. Well, not without giving them flak jackets, anyway.

Clearly DID count as Troll feeding...

NYC has several--and at least one is in Manhattan. Doesn't get much more HIGH RENT than Manhattan. My kid volunteered there a few summers ago, in the soup kitchens. June of 2001, actually. Can't give you an address...but I know he could see the WTC.

SO--Ruby didn't name one, but I did.

Hope this doesn't count as Troll feeding...

Melanie

Todd, your comments keep asking that other people do research for you. (See http://www.orangepolitics.org/archives/000186.html#002795 ) I'm glad Melanie and Terri have some good examples, but I don't really have time to go looking it up for you. If you need more information, http://Google.com is at your dispoal. If you have a point to make, do it.

Your second statement is a lot more genuine than your previous assertion that it's a great place to live and homeless folks will feel real happy there. It's pretty clear that you won't "feel sorry" for homeless people no matter where they are, and I'm sure many of your neighbors will join you in NOT welcoming the shelter in no uncertain terms.

Ruby

Please answer my question--what other town in American has a homeless shelter in the center of downtown, in the highest rent area of the city?

As for my hood, I will not be feeling sorry for homeless people if they are moved down the street. Sorry.

Todd

Todd, I'm not Ruby--but I can tell you Norfolk VA has their homeless shelter down on the waterfront, right in the midst of all their new development.

Duncan

My point is simple. Ruby is presenting this as if the homeless are getting moved to timbuktu, and I am pointing out that is not true. The area is desirable.

To add to my line of questions--what other town places a homeless shelter in the dead center of downtown in the most high rent area of the business zone? You are making more points to purplex me.

Todd, your neighborhood may be desirable for people with SUVs who commute to RTP via I-40. I don't think it offers much for people who are just struggling to get by.

Are there a lot of jobs out in your neighborhood for people with health problems and little or no education? Do a lot of shelter residents' friends and family (support network) live nearby?

What can you walk to from your house? Have you ever walked 2 miles on roads with no sidewalks? How about 5? That's how far they would be from UNC, the hub of the transit system, the Women's Center, the Familly Violence Prevention Center, lots of churches, and a host of other resources.

"Economic center of town" may be shifitng--I'd bet dollars to donuts UMALL is bringing in more capital per foot than downtown....of course, I have nor real basis for that statement--just know how BUSY UMALL seems to be these days.

Actually--has Carrboro thought of hosting the shelter for the next 20 years? Chapel Hill handled it for the first 20--seems like a project the towns could COOPERATE on...

Melanie

Todd wrote:

>Give me a break Ruby. This location is less than 2 miles from my home, and Lake Hogans Farm, and tons of other developments with >homes ranging from $300K to $1 million. It's one of the nicest parts of our area, just a tad close to the dump.

I think Ruby said the Eubanks road location was distant from the "economic center of town." I'm not sure she addressed the question of how far it would be from the homes of millionaires. (Nor do I see the relevance, but nevermind.) In any case, the current location is less than a mile from the homes of a billionaire, a bunch of millionaires, the president of the University system, a former Solicitor General of the United States, the former law office of one of the men who argued Plessy v. Ferguson on the side of the angels, and my office. If the wealth, excellence, and general fabulousness of the neighbors and the neighborhood is supposed to mean something in this debate, then the move to Eubanks is a decided step down.

If your house is the new economic center of town, Todd, congratulations! Do you have a bus stop?

>Please explain how people at Lake Hogan Farms are considered the elite, and people 2 miles up the road who are homeless are getting >shafted?!?

I don't have the foggiest idea what that means. Is that code? Ixnay on the odecay, OK?

Have a nice day!

Give me a break Ruby. This location is less than 2 miles from my home, and Lake Hogans Farm, and tons of other developments with homes ranging from $300K to $1 million. It's one of the nicest parts of our area, just a tad close to the dump.

Please explain how people at Lake Hogan Farms are considered the elite, and people 2 miles up the road who are homeless are getting shafted?!?

Also, I think it's absurd to say "for which we all bear some responsibility". Why and how are you partially responsible for some homeless guy's fate?

Also, are you forgetting the expensive bus system we have that is paid 100% by we the taxpayer, and not a cent from the homeless riders who are not paying taxes. What other town in America buses people around at the taxpayers expense, 100%?

Oh, and as if the IFC is actually making some major attraction out of downtown...

I believe Carrboro owns some developable property. Does anyone know if any of the "other" locations Kevin Foy alluded to are located in Carrboro?

Sorry Mark C--I just remeber how much work it took to convert the old cells. Mark M--The BUILDING is undergoing renovation...there is talk about relocating the shelter and using the bldg for other purposes...unless I am mis-remembering.

Just for the record, it is not a converted jail. It was the Town Hall and therefore it once had a jail in it. The jail was just one small part of that building.

The shelter about to undergo a renovation. Doesn't that mean that it is staying there for a while?

Mark

Couple of points (and yes, they conflict in their POV):

1) Millhouse road is close to the NS bus route now, and I assume with the Transit department located there, will be on the bus line in the future.

2) As a selfish member of a downtown church, I would prefer to have the shelter downtown so that when homeless come to our church (and they always will even if the shelter is elsewhere), we can very easily point them direclty to the place where we focus our time and money on providing services for them. Much harder to say to a person in need, go to this stop, wait 1/2 hour, get on this bus, and hopefully you'll get off at the right spot.

Ruby--when you say it "isn't near much else" wht do you mean by that? Are you talking about SERVICES or shopping? Or potential jobs? I think of that spot on Homesteadas convenient to a number of things--it's on the busline, Timberline isn't THAT far away, there are two churches within walking distance... I know they talked about siting a shelter there years ago--and that it was deemed "too far out"--but that was before lots of the new development that exists in that section of town had occurred. Not to mention Carolina North. I don't know the bus schedule for that part of town, but I'm fairly certain it runs regularly.

I'm not disputing that it would be best to have the shelter downtown--though the local merchants might--but if the city wants to build a shelter,instead of using a converted JAIL-- I'm not certain WHERE they would put it downtown. Do you have a parcel to suggest? (NO SARCASM INTENDED!)

Melanie

Anita, you can get some of this information from the IFC website: http://ifcweb.org/services.html

I know that IFC provides a very wide range of services which are oriented toward getting people over whatever hurdles stand between them and employment (ie: mental problems, substance abuse, coping skills, job skills, etc.). In fact, they have some strict requirements for people who sleep there. A lot of people hang around the shelter who have nothing to do with the place, or may just go in for meals sometimes. Also if you see guys hanging out there in morning they're often waiting to get picked up for day labor.

There are good programs for them (and I know the IFC would do even more if they had the funds) but I think the main thing they need are jobs and those are scarce.

i don't know too much about how current homeless services are structured. It does seem to me, just as someone who occasionally visits downtown, that there are a lot of homeless people just hanging around the shelter. Are there any options for those folks to go to classes, or to do some meaningful work in the shelter, or to receive counseling services, etc. rather than just standing around outside? IT seems like a real waste to have them spend most of the day wandering around (or staying put) downtown when there are things we can do to help them get back on their feet. Just curious if anyone can give me a brief overview. I'd like to be an informed citizen, and I don't know enough to have a legitmate voice in this discourse.

I don't think EITHER of those sites will work--but isn't there undeveloped land that the town or county owns, right off of Homestead? I'm thinking of the parcel that the Southern Human Services Center sits on. I realise that's not RIGHT down town, but surely it would be convenient to clients to have the Human Services Center right there--and it's on the busline.

Melanie

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the other suggested location, on Legion Road, is 4 miles from downtown and next to a cemetary. Doesn't that warm the heart? (Also, this is the neighborhood that had a cow when affordably-priced condos were being built there - even though they cost more than some of them paid for their homes years ago.)

The Homestead site has been suggested before. It's also about 4 miles out, and at least it's near the Human Serices complex, but not much else.