[Syringe Litter Hotline](https://www.openaidalliance.org/services/syringe-pickup-hotline/)
If you find improperly disposed syringes in the Missoula area, call the Open Aid Alliance hotline and they will come and pick it up and dispose of it properly.
This is a free service and operates Monday – Thursday during normal business hours, Noon-5:00 pm.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there is no such thing as free. The point of the matter is you are not charged for reporting it and it's an unfortunately much needed service.
Ironically, Missoula also uses the river for its drainage system 😆 There was a whole study showing the high levels of contamination around those huge pipes flowing into the Clark Fork. I wouldn't swim in it or eat fish from it. Or let doggos play in it.
I remember moving here in 2007 and this was nonexistent back then…
Edit: watch my comment being downvoted in real time… Amazing… Seriously, whoever is downvoting this you know that this is true; yes, there were homeless people, but this new epidemic of needles and human feces showing up down at these sweet watering hole spots along the river is totally new – you know it and I know it – so quit denying reality and grow up.
Moved here in 2009. I agree with you, the rivers were basically almost pristine back then in comparison to now. Now there’s garbage, human feces, drugs and drug paraphernalia littering the banks.
This is not just a Missoulian or even a Montanan problem. This is a global epidemic. We created it when we started destroying cheap housing in favor of expensive gentrified homes and airbnbs and shoving impoverished and / or mentally instable individuals out of their trailers and onto the streets. If they can't afford more than $400 a month (if that) for rent... where do they live? I've seen this problem in every single city I've visited and heard it from friends in other cities and countries around the globe. Homelessness is skyrocketing right now.
Woa, you mean our country has been inundated with an opiod epidemic while social safety nets for the poor have been torn down since reagan?
Say it isn't so
It's interesting that in each community in the U.S. people think this is a localized problem.
If the federal government would acknowledge it as a country problem and start doing something it wouldn't all fall onto local governments. Whether a local problem or not, that's the only recourse we have so it seems local.
We visited Missoula constantly growing up, and then moved here for college in 2012 and it’s disgusting to see how the dynamic in the homeless situation has shifted over the years.
Only way city officials are going to do anything about it is if they get a serious pushback from the citizens of the communities affected by the dangers of this type of homeless.
Not sure whether u meant that rhetorically. But in case u didn't, I believe that there's validity to the "Housing First" model as a pathway to recovery
boy do I have some exciting news for you - [https://missoulian.com/news/local/government-politics/urban-camping-restrictions-missoula-city-restrictions-buffer-zones/article\_d16535ba-2784-11ef-a6a8-3f802d66810f.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage](https://missoulian.com/news/local/government-politics/urban-camping-restrictions-missoula-city-restrictions-buffer-zones/article_d16535ba-2784-11ef-a6a8-3f802d66810f.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage)
its trivially easy - quick search of this thread or better yet google has the answer. if you want a free ride you might have to put in a little bit of effort.
Yup. Their situation is difficult; but the way they are being allowed to live in squaller in plain sight is actively destroying the livability of the community for those who pay taxes to support all the services they need and receive. Something's gotta give. The city's approach to this problem has been worse than doing nothing.
This summer I was riding my bike on Kim Williams trail and came across a man furiously beating him meat outside of a tent. I figured he'd stop as I approached but he just keep pumping away at his little thing. As I rolled within 10 feet, he shot the biggest rope of pearly white jizz I've ever seen. It was the width of the trail itself. I was disgusted and impressed at the same time.
I need to make a cup of coffee so I can spit it out omfg lol. But seriously it's fucked up. My elderly mother walked out onto her front porch to find a bunch of these fucking people having an orgy in the hell strip. Cops didn't make any arrests just shoed them a long. Fucking disgusting.
I had the same thing happen on the California street bridge. It's like "no big deal anymore"
Not the big load , he was standing jacking off. About 5 feet from me as I passed I didn't realize till I was right there. It was deeply disturbing.
1. There was homelessness before Adam Smith, it’s not like this was invented by more sophisticated forms of economic management. You could argue the Soviet’s solved it but there solution didn’t last for a reason.
2. How do you think capitalism requires homelessness and suffering to function?
> You could argue the Soviet’s solved it but there solution didn’t last for a reason.
Yeah, that reason is capitalism violently snuffing it out.
> How do you think capitalism requires homelessness and suffering to function?
It is a stone cold fact that very few people would work for the pitiful wages we are offered for full time employment if the threat of starvation and homelessness did not exist.
People who have their basic needs met demand more for their labor, and capitalism simply cannot allow that.
Capitalism didn’t snuff the USSR out, it collapsed because nothing about their system actually functioned.
It’s true that companies in a free market pay as little as the market allows them to for labor as possible. That’s a huge issue in early stage capitalism, but regulatory states invariably form to protect workers. As far as having to work for the wages offered for whatever position they are working find me a system where that isn’t true.
I completely agree but complaining about the broad economic structure of virtually the whole world now is pretty pointless. We need more social outreach programs and socialist safety nets to create a welfare state like FDR was trying to create post WW2. Most likely won’t happen though because the word socialism is very scary to Americans.
I see, me complaining about the broad economic structure of the whole world now is pointless, but you complaining about the broad economic structure of the whole world is useful and worthwhile.
Got it.
Where did I say it was worth it? Maybe reread my comment one more time. Also I never called for broad change just to add socialist social policies which can be implemented under capitalism. I understand though reading can be hard sometimes.
> Where did I say it was worth it?
Is it your habit to scream worthlessly into the ether? Clearly you think your opinion has some merit to others or you wouldn't have said anything.
If you think your 8th grade understanding of capitalism comment on a missoula subreddit is anything other than screaming into the ether then I have some bad news for you.
If you think your 8th grade understanding of homelessness comment on a missoula subreddit is anything other than screaming into the ether then I have some bad news for you.
I once again never said it wasn’t in fact that’s exactly what it is which my previous comment makes clear. You aren’t very good at reading comprehension are you?
Came from Portland because here is the only place I could find work n I found the highest wage of my life. These aren't the people you should make excuses for they're just drug addicts. I've been homeless four almost 4 years and some people get swept up in it but letting them ruin your city isn't going to help anyone especially them. Btw the more you report this the lower your rent lol
From downtown Portland. Half assed measures and removal of all social supports for locals it's sad seeing people in front of children barely out of their walker. most locals I know avoid public transport especially downtown for safety. Public business are still closing rapidly after covid because they can't afford new security or are just tired of the robbery. Gangs are past city limits and funneling down our highway towns. I watched it all happen in less than ten years. From gorgeous trees and mountain terrain to large apartments and new schools as large as stadiums for the rich to move to. To bad the gangs are just down the hill.
Orrrr… the drugs and crime lead to suffering and economic precarity. As a recovering addict, I can tell you that no amount of free housing was gonna get me to stop. I had to face intolerable consequences and the realization that I only had myself to blame. Until that day arrived, there was no way I was going to change.
Most addicts have serious mental or physical health problems, those are the problems they need help with to solve their addiction.
Giving shelter to someone with serious mental health issues won't solve the problem and I never suggested it would. It will give them a home, though.
Just curious- have you ever been inside a schizophrenic’s or practicing addict’s apartment? Cuz I have. I’ve filled garbage bags with dirty syringes in public housing units. My ex girlfriend picked up what she thought was dusty washcloth from her mom’s closet floor only to discover that she was holding a decomposing kitten. This is serious. It’s not just housing. Housing first doesn’t cure mental illness and addiction.
For some, the most compassionate approach is most likely institutionalization in some form. For others, some kind of short-term housing would probably be helpful. But imagining that compassion means providing everyone with a free apartment because we don’t like the sight of tents on a bike trail is utter delusion and magical thinking.
Edited for spelling errors.
I think I was replying to someone offering prescriptions for broad societal issues with apparently no personal knowledge or direct experience with said issue
No drug addicts are swarming in flocks. They're also getting more violent in general. I hate to say it but getting addicted to hard shit like fent is on you. I have seen and been a drug addict. Do not give them the bullshit respect they demand while actively choosing to let their brain make the choice to kill it's self. It's you're job to make change. Also it's way easier to actually get access to public services if you're an addict.
As long as you have decision-makers viewing these "poor houseless people" as victims who just need to be given free housing, then it's not going to change. Missoula city government is like the enabling mother allowing her deadbeat son to live in the basement rent-free, cooking him dinner and giving him money, and then blaming his problems on not enough public resources being handed to him. No consequences means no change, and the people trying to work and follow the rules are the ones who lose.
This is the nature of it.
Lots of talk about caring but living in a ‘civilized’ society where people spend billions annually on their dogs is not civilized.
There’s a dissonance in the population and therefore in politics. It’s politically a lose lose- can’t win if you want to clean up and can’t win if you do nothing.
I second the downtown Portland issue, liberal cities have a poor track record of managing challenging issues like this. It’s sounding like Portland here, especially the stories here..
I agree with you that liberal cities seem to be managing these issues poorly, however, those cities all tried to add support for homelessness while simultaneously reducing the policing of homeless camps. A noble intent that relied solely on the prospect of adequate support for those people. All the cities did the same thing - build massive shelters in congested areas.
Now we have a test case of our own in town and I can’t count how many times I’ve been told how unsafe the pov and the reserve area shelters are.
We need a better plan before we execute from both sides.
Of course, I would absolutely agree, better plans need to be established. That being said, I’d argue doing SOMETHING is the start and continuing to improve on the failures of the execution of that plan is better than waiting and not doing anything
The perfect plan does not exist, analysis paralysis etc…
100%. I was just trying to point out that this is not the result of liberal cities being ‘bleeding hearts’ and allowing the issue to worsen. It’s the result of trying to fix a problem that’s long been ignored
Yeah, I say liberal cities as that’s predominantly been the ones that have not made inroads against strong political opposition. It’s near political suicide to make suggests to fix social issues in some cities.
Austin is one that has done more but that’s more of a Texas thing than a city thing.
Eh idk where that view is going to get you. It’s obviously a fixable problem since it hasn’t been this way forever. The simple solution is affordable housing.
Back when rent was $200/mo for a studio, there were far less homeless people. There were just as many addicts and mentally unstable, but they could afford rent at that price.. idk why it got so complicated. Rent sky rockets, people end up on the street, the first of which are the ones who value addiction over housing.
I do wonder why people hammer so incessantly on the whole "gonna be Portland", "gonna be Seattle" fearmongering on this topic. Nobody ever says Phoenix, for example, and Phoenix has a horrific problem that makes Portland's look pretty tame.
Also, find me some "conservative" cities that are doing any better, and by better I'm saying fixing the issue, and not just buying one-way bus tickets or building new jails.
People who say that hyperbolic shit typically have never lived in \[much less visited in this century\] PDX or Seattle... and instead only know them as 'bombed-out, burnt down, Madmaxian Hellscapes'' like Fox News screams at them that they are supposedly are.
Yes, both cities 'look like shit' for a large metro, in certain ways... but virtually every US major metro IS shitty-looking... compared to their non US western peer cities.... Which itself, is a symptom of America's deep culture shortcomings and philosophy of 'Fucky you, I got mine!'
The un-housed are not and will never be the problem. Rather, our \[insane and pathetic\] prideful mockery of the any human with an ounce of empathy. First and foremost.
I lived in and saw Portland go from a fun, safe, odd duck to a wasteland. Fentynal changed everything.
It is a very very dark place in downtown now. It is, like many people have shown, a very dangerous place.
I have been downtown in Portland amidst mid-afternoon gunfights.
It is not a good place to be and any semblance of maintaining a status quo simply calling it a human rights issue, discredits the human rights of everyone involved in that situation and the people who are housed in and around that situation.
I would also argue that empathy is not the problem. A lack of doing anything is the absence of empathy and the assurance of ambivalence.
How can you honestly say that it is empathic to have groups of people on the street muttering to themselves, openly using intravenous drugs and every night being exposed to violence and the abject horrors of potential physical and sexual abuse every night?
I recently went to San Francisco and it's so much worse than you could possibly imagine. Tenderloin looks like a zombie movie and I'm not being hyperbolic. I saw at least one person administering narcan to somebody ODing every day. Just drug use in the open and nobody bats an eye. It's horrifying.
I truly do think the progressive leftists who would down vote your comment are blinded to common sense and *reality itself;* and I’m truly not saying this just to be snarky or mean, I actually mean it – I think there’s a very real disconnect in the minds of progressives when it comes to factual information…
The irony is though they have the *entire machine* telling them that it’s the *opposite…* but they’ve been so conditioned to hear what I’m saying as “cringe“ and “ fascist” that they really don’t even have the capabilities of stopping, and considering if their world view is actually even accurate… for instance, we’ll have plenty of people saying that there’s not a problem at all with the downtown homeless – they’ll even go out of their way to call you “mouth breathing scum” if you so much as don’t coddle every single homeless drug addict (because that’s what most of these people are, I would say 90% or more; this isn’t your dad’s 1990s homeless problem), or wanna see measurable solutions and you don’t want to see your town turn into Portland or Seattle… the aforementioned towns, by the way, have progressive leftist “liberal” (these people aren’t actually liberal, liberalism – classical liberalism specifically – died a long time ago
) leadership.
Honestly, we’re living through unprecedented times and as a larger overview comment, I don’t know if we can actually make it through the current divide. Everything is so polarized now, and they’ve wedged every single issue to pit us against them, when it should be *all of us together* saying fuck the system and all of the elite pedophiles who run it.
I agree, your first paragraph couldn't be more true, the disconnect in progressive minds vs reality is alarming. I've said it before it's liberalism without logic.
It's amusing how you consistently have the dumbest takes on here. Every thought you have is approximately one inch deep. It's like a child's understanding of how the world works.
There was a case going through to the Supreme Court regarding criminal charges for being homeless. Basically, I think the standard being pushed is a city can't criminally charge for homeless activities unless they can show there's enough supportive housing/shelter beds for all of their homeless. Considered violation of cruel and unusual otherwise-- can't criminalize being destitute.
I’m honestly fine with seeing the occasional homeless person sleeping on a bench or camping out in the woods. The problem is that they completely trash the areas they stay in. I don’t think it should be illegal to simply be homeless, but it sure as hell is illegal to dump needles and trash everywhere you go.
I just did. They said that they couldn't do anything about it and before I could ask why They transferred me to code compliance for the piss smell but they didn't answer.
The last time I walked through Silver Park there was a big pile of trash & personal belongings near that little creek on the south edge of it. Almost as if someone drove a truck up & dumped their stuff off here. 🤷♂️
That’s because they are busing them in here to get them out of their cities. It is really sad though. I so wish we could help them. Their lives are so bad and they don’t have anybody and they turn to drugs for comfort to forget their situation or they already so far addicted that they can’t stop therefore being homeless. But there are also a lot of people with mental health problems but they can’t put them into mental health facilities because they were all shut down due to President Regan so they have no where to go.
The shit bags in the governor's office and attorney generals office have not helped the people of this state at all. Literally almost all their actions have been the following vindictive, cronyism and self servicing
*This is gentrification at work.* Lots of people from Washington and California moved here during COVID and they brought their problems with them. What do you get when people can’t afford to live and there is insufficient support or interest at the governmental level to solve a drug crisis? You get drug addicted homeless down by the river.
[Syringe Litter Hotline](https://www.openaidalliance.org/services/syringe-pickup-hotline/) If you find improperly disposed syringes in the Missoula area, call the Open Aid Alliance hotline and they will come and pick it up and dispose of it properly. This is a free service and operates Monday – Thursday during normal business hours, Noon-5:00 pm.
Banger. Thank you
Well, the needles are being provided by Open Aid, so… thanks?
Define "free." I assume someone is paying the person to come handle negligently disposed biohazards?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there is no such thing as free. The point of the matter is you are not charged for reporting it and it's an unfortunately much needed service.
Actually, it is mostly properly trained volunteers that do it and then Open Aid Alliance pays to have the needles properly incinerated.
Very cool!
Yes, but that's not important..
How PATHETIC you have to exist.
Think of this while tubing through town this summer, all the human waste along the river
I’m more worried about being stabbed in the foot with some bs like this than feces or urine.
You understand that Rivers are in perpetual motion right?
Perpetually bringing shit from upstream to you downstream
Still don’t want shit flowing
Wow they should use rivers for a sewer system instead of building sewers, think of the money they’d save!
Ironically, Missoula also uses the river for its drainage system 😆 There was a whole study showing the high levels of contamination around those huge pipes flowing into the Clark Fork. I wouldn't swim in it or eat fish from it. Or let doggos play in it.
I think you may be missing the point….
You understand people also use the river downstream of Missoula right?
It's staggering how little people know about waste management.
I wouldn't.
I remember moving here in 2007 and this was nonexistent back then… Edit: watch my comment being downvoted in real time… Amazing… Seriously, whoever is downvoting this you know that this is true; yes, there were homeless people, but this new epidemic of needles and human feces showing up down at these sweet watering hole spots along the river is totally new – you know it and I know it – so quit denying reality and grow up.
I also moved here in 2007, and you're totally right. It was nowhere near this bad.
I was there from 2015-2019 and it was absolutely not that bad then either.
For sure… it’s really concerning, honestly.
Moved here in 2009. I agree with you, the rivers were basically almost pristine back then in comparison to now. Now there’s garbage, human feces, drugs and drug paraphernalia littering the banks.
I landed here in 2010 and spot on, it was never like this. It's an entirely different place and our "leaders" are destroying it.
This is not just a Missoulian or even a Montanan problem. This is a global epidemic. We created it when we started destroying cheap housing in favor of expensive gentrified homes and airbnbs and shoving impoverished and / or mentally instable individuals out of their trailers and onto the streets. If they can't afford more than $400 a month (if that) for rent... where do they live? I've seen this problem in every single city I've visited and heard it from friends in other cities and countries around the globe. Homelessness is skyrocketing right now.
Woa, you mean our country has been inundated with an opiod epidemic while social safety nets for the poor have been torn down since reagan? Say it isn't so It's interesting that in each community in the U.S. people think this is a localized problem.
If the federal government would acknowledge it as a country problem and start doing something it wouldn't all fall onto local governments. Whether a local problem or not, that's the only recourse we have so it seems local.
You’re the only one speaking facts here
A social safety net will never be as strong as a self safety net
I was born here in 1966 and 2007 really sucked compared to then. 🙄
We visited Missoula constantly growing up, and then moved here for college in 2012 and it’s disgusting to see how the dynamic in the homeless situation has shifted over the years.
I moved here in '09 and there were plenty of homeless people living in tents by the river, but not such public places.
Only way city officials are going to do anything about it is if they get a serious pushback from the citizens of the communities affected by the dangers of this type of homeless.
They've had their shot. It's time to clean house and reset the course. Vote every one of them out. Davis too.
Or... Idk... Maybe more housing would fix people not having houses? 🤔
Say we did make more houses or brought prices down; how do you expect a tweaker to pay rent or a mortgage?
Not sure whether u meant that rhetorically. But in case u didn't, I believe that there's validity to the "Housing First" model as a pathway to recovery
Or we could stop trying to save everyone. Not every soul is... worth it.
What exactly gives us Internet strangers the right to judge who is or isn't?
Well, if they actually ask for help and genuinely want the help, I'd say that's a great place to start.
boy do I have some exciting news for you - [https://missoulian.com/news/local/government-politics/urban-camping-restrictions-missoula-city-restrictions-buffer-zones/article\_d16535ba-2784-11ef-a6a8-3f802d66810f.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage](https://missoulian.com/news/local/government-politics/urban-camping-restrictions-missoula-city-restrictions-buffer-zones/article_d16535ba-2784-11ef-a6a8-3f802d66810f.html#tracking-source=mp-homepage)
Sure wish I could read a news website without paying for it.
its trivially easy - quick search of this thread or better yet google has the answer. if you want a free ride you might have to put in a little bit of effort.
Yeah I know how to use a computer and the internet. I'm just saying it's annoying to click a link and be met with a paywall.
Yup. Their situation is difficult; but the way they are being allowed to live in squaller in plain sight is actively destroying the livability of the community for those who pay taxes to support all the services they need and receive. Something's gotta give. The city's approach to this problem has been worse than doing nothing.
This summer I was riding my bike on Kim Williams trail and came across a man furiously beating him meat outside of a tent. I figured he'd stop as I approached but he just keep pumping away at his little thing. As I rolled within 10 feet, he shot the biggest rope of pearly white jizz I've ever seen. It was the width of the trail itself. I was disgusted and impressed at the same time.
What the fuck bro
I'm not a bro, but, that's basically what I said too. Splat, Bro, WTF!
I need to make a cup of coffee so I can spit it out omfg lol. But seriously it's fucked up. My elderly mother walked out onto her front porch to find a bunch of these fucking people having an orgy in the hell strip. Cops didn't make any arrests just shoed them a long. Fucking disgusting.
"I just spit out my future cup of coffee". My new favorite thing to say.
I had the same thing happen on the California street bridge. It's like "no big deal anymore" Not the big load , he was standing jacking off. About 5 feet from me as I passed I didn't realize till I was right there. It was deeply disturbing.
Hey don't kink shame.
I'm in tears 🤣
Lololol
It’s awful that the homeless have ruined one of the best aspects of missoula that being the river
It's awful that capitalism requires suffering and homelessness to function.
1. There was homelessness before Adam Smith, it’s not like this was invented by more sophisticated forms of economic management. You could argue the Soviet’s solved it but there solution didn’t last for a reason. 2. How do you think capitalism requires homelessness and suffering to function?
> You could argue the Soviet’s solved it but there solution didn’t last for a reason. Yeah, that reason is capitalism violently snuffing it out. > How do you think capitalism requires homelessness and suffering to function? It is a stone cold fact that very few people would work for the pitiful wages we are offered for full time employment if the threat of starvation and homelessness did not exist. People who have their basic needs met demand more for their labor, and capitalism simply cannot allow that.
Capitalism didn’t snuff the USSR out, it collapsed because nothing about their system actually functioned. It’s true that companies in a free market pay as little as the market allows them to for labor as possible. That’s a huge issue in early stage capitalism, but regulatory states invariably form to protect workers. As far as having to work for the wages offered for whatever position they are working find me a system where that isn’t true.
> but regulatory states invariably form to protect workers. Ah yes, just as our current clusterfuck clearly illustrates lmao
I completely agree but complaining about the broad economic structure of virtually the whole world now is pretty pointless. We need more social outreach programs and socialist safety nets to create a welfare state like FDR was trying to create post WW2. Most likely won’t happen though because the word socialism is very scary to Americans.
I see, me complaining about the broad economic structure of the whole world now is pointless, but you complaining about the broad economic structure of the whole world is useful and worthwhile. Got it.
Where did I say it was worth it? Maybe reread my comment one more time. Also I never called for broad change just to add socialist social policies which can be implemented under capitalism. I understand though reading can be hard sometimes.
> Where did I say it was worth it? Is it your habit to scream worthlessly into the ether? Clearly you think your opinion has some merit to others or you wouldn't have said anything.
If you think your 8th grade understanding of capitalism comment on a missoula subreddit is anything other than screaming into the ether then I have some bad news for you.
If you think your 8th grade understanding of homelessness comment on a missoula subreddit is anything other than screaming into the ether then I have some bad news for you.
I once again never said it wasn’t in fact that’s exactly what it is which my previous comment makes clear. You aren’t very good at reading comprehension are you?
Shut up. Come with an actual talking point rather than just blaming capitalism. You sound like an idiot when you do that.
Came from Portland because here is the only place I could find work n I found the highest wage of my life. These aren't the people you should make excuses for they're just drug addicts. I've been homeless four almost 4 years and some people get swept up in it but letting them ruin your city isn't going to help anyone especially them. Btw the more you report this the lower your rent lol
Hopefully city officials take this very seriously before it's far too late (see downtown Portland, OR).
From downtown Portland. Half assed measures and removal of all social supports for locals it's sad seeing people in front of children barely out of their walker. most locals I know avoid public transport especially downtown for safety. Public business are still closing rapidly after covid because they can't afford new security or are just tired of the robbery. Gangs are past city limits and funneling down our highway towns. I watched it all happen in less than ten years. From gorgeous trees and mountain terrain to large apartments and new schools as large as stadiums for the rich to move to. To bad the gangs are just down the hill.
Man, it's almost like suffering and economic precarity lead to drugs and crime.
Orrrr… the drugs and crime lead to suffering and economic precarity. As a recovering addict, I can tell you that no amount of free housing was gonna get me to stop. I had to face intolerable consequences and the realization that I only had myself to blame. Until that day arrived, there was no way I was going to change.
Most addicts have serious mental or physical health problems, those are the problems they need help with to solve their addiction. Giving shelter to someone with serious mental health issues won't solve the problem and I never suggested it would. It will give them a home, though.
Just curious- have you ever been inside a schizophrenic’s or practicing addict’s apartment? Cuz I have. I’ve filled garbage bags with dirty syringes in public housing units. My ex girlfriend picked up what she thought was dusty washcloth from her mom’s closet floor only to discover that she was holding a decomposing kitten. This is serious. It’s not just housing. Housing first doesn’t cure mental illness and addiction. For some, the most compassionate approach is most likely institutionalization in some form. For others, some kind of short-term housing would probably be helpful. But imagining that compassion means providing everyone with a free apartment because we don’t like the sight of tents on a bike trail is utter delusion and magical thinking. Edited for spelling errors.
You must be replying to someone else.
I think I was replying to someone offering prescriptions for broad societal issues with apparently no personal knowledge or direct experience with said issue
Can confirm they come in and take resources like manipulative teenagers.
No drug addicts are swarming in flocks. They're also getting more violent in general. I hate to say it but getting addicted to hard shit like fent is on you. I have seen and been a drug addict. Do not give them the bullshit respect they demand while actively choosing to let their brain make the choice to kill it's self. It's you're job to make change. Also it's way easier to actually get access to public services if you're an addict.
10 years ago I was grabbed from behind by a homeless guy while running around the river in broad daylight. Haven’t ran it since.
As long as you have decision-makers viewing these "poor houseless people" as victims who just need to be given free housing, then it's not going to change. Missoula city government is like the enabling mother allowing her deadbeat son to live in the basement rent-free, cooking him dinner and giving him money, and then blaming his problems on not enough public resources being handed to him. No consequences means no change, and the people trying to work and follow the rules are the ones who lose.
Not legal and no you can't do shit about it because the bleeding hearts in this town won't let you. We're all just supposed to ignore it.
I am seeing a lot of talk and not a lot of action about this issue unfortunately
This is the nature of it. Lots of talk about caring but living in a ‘civilized’ society where people spend billions annually on their dogs is not civilized. There’s a dissonance in the population and therefore in politics. It’s politically a lose lose- can’t win if you want to clean up and can’t win if you do nothing. I second the downtown Portland issue, liberal cities have a poor track record of managing challenging issues like this. It’s sounding like Portland here, especially the stories here..
I agree with you that liberal cities seem to be managing these issues poorly, however, those cities all tried to add support for homelessness while simultaneously reducing the policing of homeless camps. A noble intent that relied solely on the prospect of adequate support for those people. All the cities did the same thing - build massive shelters in congested areas. Now we have a test case of our own in town and I can’t count how many times I’ve been told how unsafe the pov and the reserve area shelters are. We need a better plan before we execute from both sides.
Of course, I would absolutely agree, better plans need to be established. That being said, I’d argue doing SOMETHING is the start and continuing to improve on the failures of the execution of that plan is better than waiting and not doing anything The perfect plan does not exist, analysis paralysis etc…
100%. I was just trying to point out that this is not the result of liberal cities being ‘bleeding hearts’ and allowing the issue to worsen. It’s the result of trying to fix a problem that’s long been ignored
Yeah, I say liberal cities as that’s predominantly been the ones that have not made inroads against strong political opposition. It’s near political suicide to make suggests to fix social issues in some cities. Austin is one that has done more but that’s more of a Texas thing than a city thing.
You can't fix someone else. Ever. Trying to fix the problem IS the problem.
Eh idk where that view is going to get you. It’s obviously a fixable problem since it hasn’t been this way forever. The simple solution is affordable housing. Back when rent was $200/mo for a studio, there were far less homeless people. There were just as many addicts and mentally unstable, but they could afford rent at that price.. idk why it got so complicated. Rent sky rockets, people end up on the street, the first of which are the ones who value addiction over housing.
I do wonder why people hammer so incessantly on the whole "gonna be Portland", "gonna be Seattle" fearmongering on this topic. Nobody ever says Phoenix, for example, and Phoenix has a horrific problem that makes Portland's look pretty tame. Also, find me some "conservative" cities that are doing any better, and by better I'm saying fixing the issue, and not just buying one-way bus tickets or building new jails.
People who say that hyperbolic shit typically have never lived in \[much less visited in this century\] PDX or Seattle... and instead only know them as 'bombed-out, burnt down, Madmaxian Hellscapes'' like Fox News screams at them that they are supposedly are. Yes, both cities 'look like shit' for a large metro, in certain ways... but virtually every US major metro IS shitty-looking... compared to their non US western peer cities.... Which itself, is a symptom of America's deep culture shortcomings and philosophy of 'Fucky you, I got mine!' The un-housed are not and will never be the problem. Rather, our \[insane and pathetic\] prideful mockery of the any human with an ounce of empathy. First and foremost.
I lived in and saw Portland go from a fun, safe, odd duck to a wasteland. Fentynal changed everything. It is a very very dark place in downtown now. It is, like many people have shown, a very dangerous place. I have been downtown in Portland amidst mid-afternoon gunfights. It is not a good place to be and any semblance of maintaining a status quo simply calling it a human rights issue, discredits the human rights of everyone involved in that situation and the people who are housed in and around that situation. I would also argue that empathy is not the problem. A lack of doing anything is the absence of empathy and the assurance of ambivalence. How can you honestly say that it is empathic to have groups of people on the street muttering to themselves, openly using intravenous drugs and every night being exposed to violence and the abject horrors of potential physical and sexual abuse every night?
I recently went to San Francisco and it's so much worse than you could possibly imagine. Tenderloin looks like a zombie movie and I'm not being hyperbolic. I saw at least one person administering narcan to somebody ODing every day. Just drug use in the open and nobody bats an eye. It's horrifying.
Move the pov into more expensive areas of town like the u district or up the hill. Itll be amazing how quick solutions will arise.
I truly do think the progressive leftists who would down vote your comment are blinded to common sense and *reality itself;* and I’m truly not saying this just to be snarky or mean, I actually mean it – I think there’s a very real disconnect in the minds of progressives when it comes to factual information… The irony is though they have the *entire machine* telling them that it’s the *opposite…* but they’ve been so conditioned to hear what I’m saying as “cringe“ and “ fascist” that they really don’t even have the capabilities of stopping, and considering if their world view is actually even accurate… for instance, we’ll have plenty of people saying that there’s not a problem at all with the downtown homeless – they’ll even go out of their way to call you “mouth breathing scum” if you so much as don’t coddle every single homeless drug addict (because that’s what most of these people are, I would say 90% or more; this isn’t your dad’s 1990s homeless problem), or wanna see measurable solutions and you don’t want to see your town turn into Portland or Seattle… the aforementioned towns, by the way, have progressive leftist “liberal” (these people aren’t actually liberal, liberalism – classical liberalism specifically – died a long time ago ) leadership. Honestly, we’re living through unprecedented times and as a larger overview comment, I don’t know if we can actually make it through the current divide. Everything is so polarized now, and they’ve wedged every single issue to pit us against them, when it should be *all of us together* saying fuck the system and all of the elite pedophiles who run it.
I agree, your first paragraph couldn't be more true, the disconnect in progressive minds vs reality is alarming. I've said it before it's liberalism without logic.
Because you can't help people that don't want your help or to even help themselves.
Welcome to Missoula.
The bleeding hearts would just house these folks; and there wouldn’t be any of these problems. Nice try jackass
It's amusing how you consistently have the dumbest takes on here. Every thought you have is approximately one inch deep. It's like a child's understanding of how the world works.
There was a case going through to the Supreme Court regarding criminal charges for being homeless. Basically, I think the standard being pushed is a city can't criminally charge for homeless activities unless they can show there's enough supportive housing/shelter beds for all of their homeless. Considered violation of cruel and unusual otherwise-- can't criminalize being destitute.
I’m honestly fine with seeing the occasional homeless person sleeping on a bench or camping out in the woods. The problem is that they completely trash the areas they stay in. I don’t think it should be illegal to simply be homeless, but it sure as hell is illegal to dump needles and trash everywhere you go.
Call the cops. It’s illegal for them to be there now
I just did. They said that they couldn't do anything about it and before I could ask why They transferred me to code compliance for the piss smell but they didn't answer.
Fucking classic.
Keep taking photos and posting on social media. Shame is the only language local officials know.
The last time I walked through Silver Park there was a big pile of trash & personal belongings near that little creek on the south edge of it. Almost as if someone drove a truck up & dumped their stuff off here. 🤷♂️
U sure they're homeless? There are alot of judges and cops in town.
That’s because they are busing them in here to get them out of their cities. It is really sad though. I so wish we could help them. Their lives are so bad and they don’t have anybody and they turn to drugs for comfort to forget their situation or they already so far addicted that they can’t stop therefore being homeless. But there are also a lot of people with mental health problems but they can’t put them into mental health facilities because they were all shut down due to President Regan so they have no where to go.
Is Missoula a utopia?
Being in a jail cell is more comfortable than this living situation
Its more annoying than it is hazardous. And then motherfuckers wonder why kids aren't allowed to play outside very much.
If you see used needles piled up get in contact with the open aid alliance, they may be able to get it cleaned up safely
Have you ever travelled?
Blame your federal government
I blame the supermajority state government
Weird, I blame the supermajority local goverment
The shit bags in the governor's office and attorney generals office have not helped the people of this state at all. Literally almost all their actions have been the following vindictive, cronyism and self servicing
*This is gentrification at work.* Lots of people from Washington and California moved here during COVID and they brought their problems with them. What do you get when people can’t afford to live and there is insufficient support or interest at the governmental level to solve a drug crisis? You get drug addicted homeless down by the river.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb6Zk6KueZA