California needs to learn from Houston and Dallas about homelessness
a day ago
- #housing-crisis
- #homelessness
- #urban-policy
- Houston and Dallas reduced street homelessness by building effective systems, unlike California which spent billions without results.
- California's homeless population surged by 56% (2015-2022), while Houston's fell by 32%. San Francisco's homelessness rate is 20 times higher than Houston's.
- Texas cities centralized strategy and decentralized operations, using unified intake and data systems, clear metrics, and flexible funding.
- Houston housed over 33,000 people since 2012 with a 90% retention rate, while San Francisco's enforcement approach just displaces people temporarily.
- California's dysfunctional system includes fragmented data, excessive compliance requirements, and a nonprofit-industrial complex resistant to accountability.
- Houston's model is vulnerable to federal funding cuts and rising housing costs, but it still outperforms California's lack of coherent strategy.
- Key lessons: designate a backbone organization with authority, mandate unified data, braid flexible funding, and grant operational autonomy.