migueltejada wrote:
Yes, but that's a better use than a vacant parking lot. The site is so large you could make half of it offices/residential and the other half a homeless shelter - or something else in any case.
Homeless shelters are a sad necessity in the world we live in, but that doesnt mean that we have to live and work nearby
Yes.migueltejada wrote: You really think the man would prefer people stay homeless so he can be in the limelight?
migueltejada wrote:You really think the man would prefer people stay homeless so he can be in the limelight? That's absurd.
Crime will force closure of low-income apartment building
By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/29/2007
A downtown St. Louis apartment complex that houses mostly low-income elderly residents faces imminent closure because of repeated and escalating crime.
The 100-unit Centenary Towers, 1528 Locust Street, has been declared a "public safety nuisance," by the city's Department of Public Safety. Residents are expected to be moved soon to alternative subsidized housing.
Centenary Housing LP of Portland, Maine, acquired the top eight floors of the 10-story building in 1997. It used $2.8 million in bonds, issued by the
St. Louis Industrial Development Authority, to finance the acquisition and improvements. Centenary has missed the last two monthly bond payments, and is expected to miss its next payment. Advertisement
Because of the missed payments, the bond was downgraded Wednesday to C from B by the bond rating company Standard and Poor's.
A default would not make the city or the IDA financially responsible for the debt, said
Leslye Mitchell-Yancey, attorney-manager for the development agency.
In addition to poor elderly residents, Centenary Towers houses mentally and physically disabled low-income residents. Centenary Housing also received a Section 8 subsidy — $32,000 in March — from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD cut off that subsidy last week because of the crime problems, officials at the agency's St. Louis field office said.
Police have received 1,151 calls for service to the building since Jan. 26, 2005, said Matt Moak, manager of problem properties for the city. The incidents include drug dealing, assault, theft and burglary.
"The police are there twice a day, every day, on average," Moak said.
About 81 of the units are occupied and vandals are using the unoccupied units, making it a danger to public safety and the elderly residents, Moak said. Centenary Housing LP did not respond to several notifications and letters from the city, he said.
The lower two floors of the building are occupied by the YMCA, which is not affected by the closure of the apartment portion and will remain open.
I'm now Rice's neighbor. He has explicitly expressed his disdain for me and my ilk for having the audacity to repair old buildings. The St. Patrick center asks me for assistance, Rice only tells me to go away.
I was once a potential "client", and was twice turned away from NLEC assistance not because I didn't have a need, but because I was not willing to "do my part" by spending my time "increasing awareness" of the "homelessness problem" by giving up my job search in favor of walking the streets of Downtown. It was also mentioned out loud that I was the wrong color. Seriously.
It is, indeed, absurd, that our city has put up with and even supported him for so long.
bsharmastl wrote:I am SO sick of this sh**.
Went to the Blues game (watched them for once kick the Oilers)with my kids. On my way out.... RIGHT out of the game, a lady was asking help to feed a hungry person. I had to explain to my kids why I could not "help" the person.
Then..... walking back to my loft was stopped twice to ask for some money. One of the dudes was REEKING so BAD of alcohol that I did not want him within 10 feet of my kids.
Now.... what impression would ANY visitor have of our city, if OUTSIDE the Scotttrade center and on ANY street nearby you had people bothering you for money? At least one of them had enough money to drink himslef into a stupor.
BTW, I have not had this issue after any Cards or Rams game........ Better management perhaps.
ChrisInDownTown wrote:...the people have been making this their homes and have not been causing trouble...
It's because in Austraila they have extreme welfare programs that provide a decent check and state sponsored shelter to the homeless. This keeps them off of the streets. The catch is I believe they have 40-50% income tax to fund said programs....yeah that wouldn't fly in the states.migueltejada wrote:It's because in Austraila they have extreme welfare programs that provide a decent check and shelter to the homelees, which in turn keeps them off the street. But the catch is I believe they have 40-50% income tax.....yeah wouldn't fly in the States.I'm now Rice's neighbor. He has explicitly expressed his disdain for me and my ilk for having the audacity to repair old buildings. The St. Patrick center asks me for assistance, Rice only tells me to go away.
I was once a potential "client", and was twice turned away from NLEC assistance not because I didn't have a need, but because I was not willing to "do my part" by spending my time "increasing awareness" of the "homelessness problem" by giving up my job search in favor of walking the streets of Downtown. It was also mentioned out loud that I was the wrong color. Seriously.
It is, indeed, absurd, that our city has put up with and even supported him for so long.
If indeed this is true, then my entire opinion of Rice will do a 180, and he should be forced to live on the streets to see what kind of life he is creating.
One of the reasons I love living in Australia is that I don't have to deal with panhandling and aggressive homeless. I'm not quite sure every reason why that is, but perhaps it would be in the US's best interests to take a page from another country to clean up our homeless problem.
ThreeOneFour wrote:ChrisInDownTown wrote:...the people have been making this their homes and have not been causing trouble...
I don't know about that...the article says police have been there about twice a day on average.
Anyway, I'm glad to see police placing a higher priority on this issue.
TheWayoftheArch wrote:Living at the knickerbocker I see everyday the parade of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances that went to Centenary Towers and NLEC. Ridiculous.
Urban Elitist wrote:It's because in Austraila they have extreme welfare programs that provide a decent check and state sponsored shelter to the homeless. This keeps them off of the streets. The catch is I believe they have 40-50% income tax to fund said programs....yeah that wouldn't fly in the states.migueltejada wrote:It's because in Austraila they have extreme welfare programs that provide a decent check and shelter to the homelees, which in turn keeps them off the street. But the catch is I believe they have 40-50% income tax.....yeah wouldn't fly in the States.I'm now Rice's neighbor. He has explicitly expressed his disdain for me and my ilk for having the audacity to repair old buildings. The St. Patrick center asks me for assistance, Rice only tells me to go away.
I was once a potential "client", and was twice turned away from NLEC assistance not because I didn't have a need, but because I was not willing to "do my part" by spending my time "increasing awareness" of the "homelessness problem" by giving up my job search in favor of walking the streets of Downtown. It was also mentioned out loud that I was the wrong color. Seriously.
It is, indeed, absurd, that our city has put up with and even supported him for so long.
If indeed this is true, then my entire opinion of Rice will do a 180, and he should be forced to live on the streets to see what kind of life he is creating.
One of the reasons I love living in Australia is that I don't have to deal with panhandling and aggressive homeless. I'm not quite sure every reason why that is, but perhaps it would be in the US's best interests to take a page from another country to clean up our homeless problem.
Grover wrote:In Australia:
Income Tax Rates 2006-07 - excluding Family Tax Benefit[1]
Taxable income Tax on this income
$0 – $6,000 Nil
$6,001 – $25,000 15c for each $1 over $6,000
$25,001 - $75,000 $2,850 plus 30c for each $1 over $25,000
$75,001 – $150,000 $17,850 plus 40c for each $1 over $75,000
Over $150,000 $47,850 plus 45c for each $1 over $150,000
In the US, we spend a very, very small percentage of the federal budget on social services for the needy. Of course the number varies depending on how left wing or right wing the source.
Panhandlers in others cities seem somewhat more well behaved than here. It strikes me that where we are failing is with managing mentally ill homeless.
One of the reasons I love living in Australia is that I don't have to deal with panhandling and aggressive homeless. I'm not quite sure every reason why that is, but perhaps it would be in the US's best interests to take a page from another country to clean up our homeless problem.
publiceye wrote:One of the reasons I love living in Australia is that I don't have to deal with panhandling and aggressive homeless. I'm not quite sure every reason why that is, but perhaps it would be in the US's best interests to take a page from another country to clean up our homeless problem.
Let's see now. There's 20 million people in Australia and 100,000 homeless people. There's 300 million people in the US and 740,000 homeless people . . .
JCity wrote:The economy seems to be roaring, despite it not being mentioned in the press...
