After reading Andrew Blanksteins original story Squatters evicted from channel 13 I got to wondering why it wouldn't be more cost effective to let them stay there and clean up the mess they made, here's the basis of the idea.


Maybe instead of using a bunch of cops to clean these places out constantly they could use 1 cop at the door and while the owners aren't using it homeless people could.

For the city the benefits are obvious, less crime elsewhere if homeless people know they have a safe place to stay, less police manpower chasing people down and clearing them out of other places etc etc the list is quite long potentially.

Also, before you start saying it won't work, consider that they were using it already,hence this story, they probably still are, and they almost certainly will again.

For the property owner, the city can let them not pay any taxes on the property until such a time as they take possession of the building again and if they are smart, they(building owners) put 1-2 people there as staff to organize the maintenance and care of the property by the people that stay there(homeless).

Shame I don't live there I'd work it out myself.




What do you think ? Doesn't it make sense to not only get them to clean up their own mess, but to help them get a decent place to stay, so that they can "clean up" a little themselves and maybe get a little self esteem going on... who knows, maybe they could wind up with a job and a real home again?

Tell me what you think.