So here is my simplistic but not too unicorns and butterflies solution:
- Set up what amounts to a detention or deportation center ("halfway house" type thing) - comfortable but by no means an apartment.
- Contract and buy a shitton of cheap(er) land 15-20 miles outside of downtown.
- Get strong but cheap construction to erect a giant shed-like structure that can hold a couple thousand (or multiple smaller structures) along with infrastructure (plumbing, etc., maybe a community shower/sink/cooking area or 2 or 10).
- Purchase bulk equipment like cots, blankets, etc. and very cheap separators or whatever (although not necessary). A/C and big central heat would far too much to provide, but certainly things can be made comfortable enough and if the weather extremes are severe, well, that's a relatively rare contingency to be worked through. Possibly some good insulation would greatly reduce heat in the summer (I have some foam stuff that is on the hottest side of my house and that stuff is amazing!! Certainly a reasonable price could be negotiated for stuff like this.
- Purchase some rudimentary climate control (fans for summer, possibly a few large heating units for winter).
- Work with organizations (tax writeoffs, etc.) to send medical and educational resources (i.e. have classes, training, etc.) at classrooms.
- Work with local employers to establish bottom of the barrel employment if possible - even if not able to self-sustain, it's work for a resume).
- Fund a rotating staff to watch/provide security/administrate/instruct and mentor.. part of this team are employment specialists who can partner with organizations in town to hire halfway type help (cleaning, Mickie D's, whatever).
The goal of a place like this is to purposely set up a humane but not permanent place to shelter and get basic needs met. In this type of place a homeless person who really wants to get out will demonstrate at least some initiative (even with some guidance at first if needed); they would be edified but also meant to know that the goal is to get out of here. Meantime they'll be as comfortable as can be until they get a leg up.
People who snark or are bad shits can get evicted and thrown into a vehicle that will provide a bus ticket and drop them off (or jail, which I know is too overcrowded as it is, so that one will take some working out). There would also be medical issues for a lot of them (drug rehab, psych help) but if you get as far as these ideas, you're at least halfway to solving that problem).
Rather than focus on getting these folks nice comfy homes without working on their habits (which take on average about 28 days to change permanently), which will lead to failure.. focus on the ascension out of borderline living and getting the skills to re-emerge as a productive person.
Yes there is some naivete to this and I'm sure a lot of problems would pop up. But it's gotta be better than spending gabillions to buy old places where residents don't want them, throwing them into a place 50 at a time and spreading out the ability and $ to help.
Don't take this too literally, but we don't have 25 little trash dumps in Austin, we have one huge landfill in TravCo where our shit is taken and dumped (but to some degree cultivated). Quit trying to jump 5 steps with these folks to get them as "gee, just one of the neighbors". Provide them shelter and hygene, a little training, then they can go look for their own residence when they have a little push up. Security would be easier if APD could come to one location (reducing exponentially the amt. of manpower needed). And centralizing this type of center would bring resources much more easily to them, rather than have to scatter out.
With maybe 3-4K of people in question it's a lot, but it's finite. This is what I would propose, even through what I'm sure would be a lot of problems. But it's a start. And for the amount of $ already wasted on this by our Idiot 8 or 9 (giving credit to a few councilmembers like Tovo who seems to have her head on relatively straight), it seems like a better idea at least to me.
The End.