According to recent survey response, the Austin, Texas homeless situation is getting out of hand. Since the passage of the Camping ban in June of 2019, Austin citizens have seen their city falling into an unrecognizable pile of trash piled on top of trash surrounded by tent communities under ever single underpass downtown. Gone is the Don’t Mess With Texas slogan, and now more and more Austin citizens are coming to the sad realization of what it has been replaced with.
Some sample responses from Twitter
“It’s a shame to see our trail littered with trash like it is today as a result of the @austintexasgov camping policy.
TTF Austin has invested money and time to enhance our experience only to have it trashed and less safe is wrong. Where is our civic pride?!”
“The people moving to town in droves must not believe in due diligence. Or they are affluent enough to isolate.”
“I sympathize with the loss of a once great city. Unfortunately not enough Austin voters are angry/threatened enough to do anything about this horrible state of affairs.”
“We were there on Wednesday night at Stubb’s to see @joerogan and @DaveChappelle and were shocked at a full-on Seattle style tent city..sirens most of the show, and how apocalyptic it looked. Lived down there until ‘14 and so glad we exited DT. Made us very sad. #recallAdler”
Most forgotten in all the wreckage of Austin are the homeless. While more money is being raised and endless non profits are showing up, less and less money is actually going to the ones who need it. One thing is very clear, homelessness in Austin has grown enormously since the 2019 camping ban. How long until the streets of Austin cannot be distinguished from the streets of Los Angeles or are we already there?
My wife and I have cut way back on the shopping we do in Austin due to homeless. My wife will not go anywhere in Austin by herself; I am always with her. We have gradually started doing more and more shopping in Buda and Kyle. We never, ever go downtown. We never go to any business in Central Austin or the Research Blvd corridor. She won’t go to any post Office in Austin by herself; when I’m not available to go with her she drives to the PO in Buda. We’ve lived here nearly 21 years, and the quality of life has markedly declined. The leadership in Austin is feckless and incompetent, but it seems to be what people want, as they keep re-electing it.
Oh, one of our favorite places to eat on South Congress at Ben White now has a homeless person in a tent on the sidewalk in front. Another Austin business paying the price for the horrible leadership Austin suffers under.
I suspect that the DPS will be taking over APD; it will be interesting to see to what extent quality-of-life ordinances will be enforced going forward.
The Don’t Mess With Texas slogan has been forgotten by these people trying to destroy Austin. Pretty much everyone agrees that this homeless agenda they started in June of 2019 has been bad for Austin and for the homeless. We will just have to hope that eventually citizens realize the game being played and start electing adults who care about the city again. Thanks for the comment! Take care!