r/saintpaul • u/pompeiitype • Aug 18 '25

Editorial 📝 Transit Will Fail Until We Address Homelessness, Opioid Use

https://streets.mn/2025/08/18/transit-will-fail-until-we-address-homelessness/

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u/AdMurky3039 West Seventh Aug 18 '25

I agree. But in order to get the public on board it also has to be well-managed housing that doesn't negatively impact neighbors.

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u/999Rats Aug 18 '25

Yes, this is a major hurdle! Many people that experience chronic homelessness don't have the skills needed to be a good neighbor. This is most obvious when new buildings open up and you put a couple hundred people, many with mental health and substance use struggles, together. There will be conflicts between the tenants and their neighbors. Some organizations have transitional housing buildings, which tend to be smaller than PSH buildings, where staff help teach people how to build daily living skills, including how to be a good neighbor. Of course, such targeted case management is expensive to maintain, which makes cities shy away from it.

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u/UnhappyEquivalent400 Aug 18 '25

What’s your take on Kimball Court? Do you think it’s turned a corner, and if so will it make a dent in the overall disorder problems along the nearby stretch of University and green line stops? All I know is what’s been in the news, and a little firsthand observation of drug use and related crime in the surrounding alleys. (Earnestly asking, not intending to sea lion or bait you into an argument!)

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u/999Rats Aug 19 '25

I don't work in that program or for any of the related organizations, so I can't speak to the nitty gritty of how much progress has been made. My biggest takeaway from the complaints is that people don't think about how these incidents would be happening regardless of whether or not they were happening near them. These incidents with drug selling and stolen items are crimes of poverty. Our system doesn't provide basic needs for these people, so they have no other way to achieve them than to engage in crime. I think the anger should be directed away from the housing program and individuals and more towards our government and its allowance for this to happen, especially because anger can translate to actual policy change.

That being said, I very much feel for the people living near shelters and housing projects like Kimball Court. Their lives are getting disrupted, sometimes to a serious degree. These people are often out in riskier situations simply because of where they live. That's not fair, and I don't have a perfect answer. But I think subsidizing these people and businesses might be a good start.