The problem: chronic homelessness, defined as being without housing for at least a year. It’s estimated that almost a third of the homeless are chronically homeless.
The mission: Figure out a way to house the roughly 10,000 chronically homeless in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A possible solution: new improved residential hotels
Consider that San Francisco had 65,000 residential hotel units in 1910, compared to around 19,000 units today. These were teeny rooms with barely enough space for a bed and a dresser (bathroom down the hall) but at least they offered shelter and safety from the streets. Many of the individuals who lived in these units were single men with problems that plague the chronically homeless today: substance abuse, mental illness, disability. We need to bring back residential hotels. Some features:
Units would be factory-assembled off-site and transported to construction sites.
Units would include bathrooms, because communal showers and toilets would likely be trashed.
Units would come in two sizes: 8’ x 20’ and 12’ by 20’ (compatible with ship, rail, and truck transport, the larger units consisting of 8’ x 20’ and 4’ x 20’ sections).
Smaller units only available to single individuals. Individuals or couples could live in larger units.
Residents would pay rent, in most cases automatically deducted from government benefits, pay, financial accounts, etc. as arranged by intake staff and based on resident’s financial resources and size of unit.
Residents would be connected with the whole homelessness support network but participation is optional.
Maximum one pet per unit, for extra monthly charge
The ground floor would include a cafeteria, laundry facility, common room, and front desk.
Breakfast and lunch served in cafeteria for nominal fee, charged monthly or per meal. Could buy with food stamps.
Ideally, the new residential hotels would have five to ten stories. 10,000 is a lot of people - you’ve got to go up.
A couple visualizations of what the units might look like:
I'm actually envisioning a process where individuals initially stay in temporary shelters and eventually work their way up to residential hotels as a form of permanent subsidized housing, with support services available every step of the way. Some residents would likely stay in the residential hotels for the rest of their lives, but these units are so small that many (especially the younger and less disabled) would eventually leave for more spacious living arrangements.
Now here's the tough love part: assuming some sort of shelter is available for anyone that needs it, homeless individuals would not be allowed to camp or sleep overnight in public spaces. That means no sidewalks, doorways, or parks.