[Editor’s note: At the suggestion of the facilitator of a recent blog workshop, I’m clarifying the expectations of The Rio Grande Report, and trying to stick to a set schedule. So tentatively, expect a new report here each Sunday. All content is the sole property of the author(s). Comments are encouraged and appreciated, but will be moderated before publication. The publication of comments is at the sole discretion of the blog administrator. Comments considered abusive, inappropriate, or which contain offensive or hateful language will not be published. If a commenter continues to post inappropriate content, they will be blocked from the blog. If you would like to submit something for publication, e-mail it as an attachment to streetnewspaper@gmail.com. ---your editor.]
The West Hotel on Northwest 6th Avenue. [Portland, OR]
Clock winds down on remaining West Hotel residents
by Amanda Waldroupe, Staff Writer
With one day until they could be legally evicted from the West Hotel, 15 of the West Hotel’s 27 tenants have found housing and already moved...Read more
Auditor’s report on homelessness confusing, misleading… | For those who can’t afford free speech
streetroots.wordpress.com
As I read these articles from a link on Facebook, I was reminded of our city’s propensity to solve certain problems, and simultaneously create new ones, by putting people out on the street in the name of progress. In February of this year, residents of the Windsor and Regis hotels were served eviction notices. The buildings were slated to be razed, and the block redeveloped. As of this date, they still stand, mostly empty. A popular night spot, Port O’ Call, in the historic Shubrick Building has been torn down. Residents living in the apartments above, some of them elderly and/or disabled, have been evicted. there is nothing on the site now but another huge vacant lot of dirt, because the federal government has no money for the actual construction of the planned new federal courthouse there. (read more) This affected not only short and long term tenants, but has created hardship for small businesses and organizations on the street level of these buildings. Most residents were given alternatives, but some refused relocation to Palmer Court or Rio Grande Hotel, stating that visiting rules and other regulations at the new locations seemed too restrictive.
I can recall a similar incident in the 1980’s here in Salt Lake City. The Plandome Hotel was considered a nuisance, which here means the LDS Church had some issues. Granted, illegal activities were a regular occurrence, but no more so than any other similar places. Everyone was evicted, and in my time on the street 20 years after, I met several people who were victims of the Plandome’s closing, still living at shelters or on the streets.
Obviously, I can’t single out RDA in Salt Lake as the sole instigators of such activities (see article above). Nor has every SRO been abandoned to decay or destruction, here or elsewhere. In 2006 the Stratford Hotel, which was gutted by fire, was remodeled into low-income apartments, with a new bicycle shop at street level. However, many rooms are miniscule, and quickly became infested with bedbugs. The aforementioned Rio Grande Hotel was recently remodeled. Two years ago in Brooklyn, 200 tenants of the 475 Kent building were evicted in the middle of January due to fire code violations, and an unauthorized matzo factory in the basement. One hundred one days later, the building was finally re-opened and many tenants were happy to return (read more). The fates of Regis and Windsor remain to be seen.
There are temporary residences, such as hostels, and at least one SRO, that are clean, welcoming, and well-run. The first example in Salt Lake City that comes to mind is The Carlton Hotel and its Annex building.
All of this is my personal take, based on the fact that I have lived in every one of these places in Salt Lake at one time or another, with the exception of the Plandome.
Still, do any of these places, no matter how hospitable, fit the definition of a home? They are certainly no place for families and children. A home is a place where you can come and go as you please. It is a place filled with those special things and wonderful people whom you love. I doubt these are places people want to live; they are places people have to live. Many just get trapped there for a very long time.
Cities everywhere seem to say they are addressing their “homeless problem,” but out of the other side of their mouth they wheel and deal people out of any chance to take a step up. Perhaps they do not realize homelessness is not a “problem” or an “issue.” Homelessness is people. It is personal and social. It is everywhere, and directly or indirectly, it affects everyone.
Can a society which fails to provide for the most basic needs of all its citizens be anything but a damaged and sick society? In the richest country in the world, people have no homes, their nutritional, financial, medical, and emotional needs are not being met. Right here in America, in every state and every city, right in our backyard, people are needlessly suffering and dying. Many other countries, smaller countries with fewer resources, take care of their citizens’ basic needs. Why aren’t we?
One step towards diminishing this travesty is for grass roots governments to exercise some compassion, and consider people over progress and profit. Support local businesses, not conglomerates and Big Box stores. Another may be to abandon the status quo policy that cuts social services first, before eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations in times of budgetary crises. A huge step would be basic health care for everyone. What solutions do you think could work? What solutions are you willing to be part of?
Until next week, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
---your editor
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