Kensington Ave, Philadelphia

[Robert Roaldi]

There seems to be a large collection of youtube videos about this place. Here's a short one and I can't watch much more than that, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpyHhrDgG5A. It's a POV walking around video, about 2 min long, about a derelict neighbourhood.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Pretty sad place.

[Alan Klein]

Have you seen videos of what's going on in California especially LA?  Homeless all over the place in tents.  On main street like in Beverly Hills and other upscale neighborhoods like Westwood below.  But the LA types are not derelict necessarily but many people who just lost their homes.  Even the tents here in Westwoods seem upscale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GHm9ym6aE

[JoeKitchen]

Are you trying to bait me this?  LOL

This is just K&A being K&A.  I grew up a 15 minute walk from here and it has always been like this.  I remember picking up a friend of mine in college at that El stop and the look on his face was of just utter shock; for me, it was just a normal day at K&A.  Even the pimp who approached us that day and said, "I got white girls, I got black girls, I got asian girls, any girls you want," was just par for the course to me.  I was actually down there a few weeks ago to pick up a few things off the main street; there is a great bakery and polish kielbasa place in that general area. 

The city could clean this up if they really wanted to, but that would require making some pretty hard decisions, such as not letting people shoot up and sleep on the street, mandating them to get help and arresting them if they refuse.  Also, getting rid of our DA Krasner, who refuses to prosecute people for small crimes, would go a long way too. 

On the bright side, the city has done a good job cleaning up the Pigeon shiticles that use hang off the El. 

To be honest though, it is not as bad as it looks.  Just dont venture down there looking like you have money, and perhaps dont shave for a few days beforehand.  Feltonville is the neighborhood to avoid. 

PS
I photographed before and after pictures of another neighborhood nearby for this kick-ass take-no-shit Mexican guy that took me around at 8 AM in the morning while smoking a Churchill cigar.  I instantly knew I was going to like this guy.  He was in charge of cleaning up the neighborhood and getting rid of make-shift structures drug addicts were using to live and shoot up in near the abandoned train tracks.  He felt cleaning this up would go a long way in making the neighborhood better.  In the middle of the shoot, a reporter from the Daily Beast ran me down asking where I expected these people to go.  I told I was just a photographer and directed the reporter to the guy with me.  The response, "somewhere else, they can go somewhere else just not here."  Rough  attitude, but one that seems to be working.

[Alan Klein]

Are you trying to bait me this?  LOL

This is just K&A being K&A.  I grew up a 15 minute walk from here and it has always been like this.  I remember picking up a friend of mine in college at that El stop and the look on his face was of just utter shock; for me, it was just a normal day at K&A.  Even the pimp who approached us that day and said, "I got white girls, I got black girls, I got asian girls, any girls you want," was just par for the course to me.  I was actually down there a few weeks ago to pick up a few things off the main street; there is a great bakery and polish kielbasa place in that general area. 

The city could clean this up if they really wanted to, but that would require making some pretty hard decisions, such as not letting people shoot up and sleep on the street, mandating them to get help and arresting them if they refuse.  Also, getting rid of our DA Krasner, who refuses to prosecute people for small crimes, would go a long way too. 

On the bright side, the city has done a good job cleaning up the Pigeon shiticles that use hang off the El. 

To be honest though, it is not as bad as it looks.  Just dont venture down there looking like you have money, and perhaps dont shave for a few days beforehand.  Feltonville is the neighborhood to avoid. 

I now live in s small town in NJ. So you don't see this around here. The way it works here, if you get picked up for drunkenness or using drugs, the court offers you a choice.  Either go to rehab or go to jail for a year. Not only does that get people off the street, but in some cases actually helps addicts and alcoholics.  If they go to rehab, they have to be monitored and then follow up with a 12 step program like AA or Narcotics Anonymous and report back to a probation officer.  It's not perfect.  But it's better than letting people freeze and die on the street from exposure or overdosing.

[JoeKitchen]

I now live in s small town in NJ. So you don't see this around here. The way it works here, if you get picked up for drunkenness or using drugs, the court offers you a choice.  Either go to rehab or go to jail for a year. Not only does that get people off the street, but in some cases actually helps addicts and alcoholics.  If they go to rehab, they have to be monitored and then follow up with a 12 step program like AA or Narcotics Anonymous and report back to a probation officer.  It's not perfect.  But it's better than letting people freeze and die on the street from exposure or overdosing.

Yes, policies like those would be nice, but we got hit with the same failed mantra of, "we cant make homelessness or drug use illegal, that would be immoral.  We need to provide them help instead."  Of course, since most addicts dont want help because it would require them to become sober, the issue then becomes we have taken away all the other tools police can use to keep the neighborhood from falling apart.  So homelessness and drug use become impossible to stop and sooner or later you have a public health crisis on your hands. 

When I was kid we would often find disposable crack pips on the ground, which were essentially small heat proof test tubes with a colored plastic filter on the open end.  We use to play games to see who could find the most colors.  Certainly not something you want to have laying around for kids to find. 

[Alan Klein]

Yes, policies like those would be nice, but we got hit with the same failed mantra of, "we cant make homelessness or drug use illegal, that would be immoral.  We need to provide them help instead."  Of course, since most addicts dont want help because it would require them to become sober, the issue then becomes we have taken away all the other tools police can use to keep the neighborhood from falling apart.  So homelessness and drug use become impossible to stop and sooner or later you have a public health crisis on your hands. 

When I was kid we would often find disposable crack pips on the ground, which were essentially small heat proof test tubes with a colored plastic filter on the open end.  We use to play games to see who could find the most colors.  Certainly not something you want to have laying around for kids to find. 

Most drug users eventually get picked up for selling or other drug offenses besides using.  So the courts can give them a choice of jail or rehab.  I agree with you that "Do-goodism" is counter productive.  It gets people killed.

[LesPalenik]

Have you seen videos of what's going on in California especially LA?  Homeless all over the place in tents.  On main street like in Beverly Hills and other upscale neighborhoods like Westwood below.  But the LA types are not derelict necessarily but many people who just lost their homes.  Even the tents here in Westwoods seem upscale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GHm9ym6aE

California has many people living in their cars and vans. Even some Google employees sleep in their cars on company parking lots. The recent movie "Nomadland" features real people as modern Nomads.

All around the Bay Area, they hide in plain sight, the vehicles doubling as shelters. Some, as Brown described, are easily recognizable – an overstuffed RV with so many items strapped to the sides that the wheels appear sunken down, a van with a taped-up window, a camper so antiquated that it doesn’t seem operational. Others can pass as your neighbor’s car: a 2006 Lexus sedan in great condition, a late-model vehicle kept neat for Uber and Lyft rides.

San Francisco counted 1,794 people living out of their vehicles in 2019, a 45% increase from the last homeless count in 2017. Across the bay in Alameda county, home of Oakland, officials counted 2,817 individuals living out of vehicles – more than double the 1,259 they counted in 2017.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/05/california-housing-homeless-rv-cars-bay-area

[faberryman]

Most drug users eventually get picked up for selling or other drug offenses besides using.

How did you determine that?

Think about that for a minute. Does that really sound plausible to you? Most?

[Alan Klein]

California has many people living in their cars and vans. Even some Google employees sleep in their cars on company parking lots. The recent movie "Nomadland" features real people as modern Nomads.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/05/california-housing-homeless-rv-cars-bay-area

When I vacationed in LA and drove around, I checked Zillow and couldn't believe how expensive real estate is there, even in regular neighborhoods.  No wonder there are so many homeless.

[Alan Klein]

How did you determine that?

Think about that for a minute. Does that really sound plausible to you? Most?

That's right.  Most drug users are on the street because they have no money to live in a home.  If they have no money for that, they have no money for drugs either.  Even if they live at home, the drug habit gets so expensive, they steal or sell drugs to support their habit.  They get caught and the judge gives them a choice.  A year in jail or rehab.  Do a little research if you don't believe me. 

[LesPalenik]

When I vacationed in LA and drove around, I checked Zillow and couldn't believe how expensive real estate is there, even in regular neighborhoods.  No wonder there are so many homeless.

That's why Elon Musk (and thousand others) moved to Texas.

[Alan Klein]

That's why Elon Musk (and thousand others) moved to Texas.

No state income taxes either in Texas, and California has the highest of all 50 states.  If it wasn't for the nice weather in CA, no one would live there except surfers.

Speaking of high state taxes, a fight is breaking out among Democrats in New York. AOC, a congressman from NY and leader of the left-liberal-Socialist "squad", is in favor of Trump's change in the tax law that only allows $10,000 in deductions for property taxes.  It was unlimited before the tax laws were changed.  New York has very high property taxes.  So high-income residents there have been hurt because their property taxes often exceed $10,000.

Most other Democrats in New York want Democrat-controlled Congress to reverse the Trump law and make the deduction unlimited again.  After all, despite Democrats always saying there for the poor,  that's only when others have to pay higher taxes.  It's not supposed to cause rich Democrats to pay more in taxes.  So they're fighting with AOC about this.  What a bunch of hypocrites.

AOC calls SALT deduction a 'gift to billionaires,' opposes effort to hold up infrastructure bill
Repealing a cap on the state and local taxes deduction would be "a giveaway to the rich," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday.

The Trump tax cut of 2017 slashed the SALT deduction to $10,000 from an unlimited amount.

Some Democrats want to get rid of the cap, as itemized deductions can be very high in blue states like New York and California.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/aoc-calls-salt-deduction-gift-211250458.html

[faberryman]

That's right.  Most drug users are on the street because they have no money to live in a home.  If they have no money for that, they have no money for drugs either.  Even if they live at home, the drug habit gets so expensive, they steal or sell drugs to support their habit.  They get caught and the judge gives them a choice.  A year in jail or rehab.  Do a little research if you don't believe me.

I don't need to.

[faberryman]

No state income taxes either in Texas, and California has the highest of all 50 states.  If it wasn't for the nice weather in CA, no one would live there except surfers.

Speaking of high state taxes, a fight is breaking out among Democrats in New York. AOC, a congressman from NY and leader of the left-liberal-Socialist "squad", is in favor of Trump's change in the tax law that only allows $10,000 in deductions for property taxes.  It was unlimited before the tax laws were changed.  New York has very high property taxes.  So high-income residents there have been hurt because their property taxes often exceed $10,000.

Most other Democrats in New York want Democrat-controlled Congress to reverse the Trump law and make the deduction unlimited again.  After all, despite Democrats always saying there for the poor,  that's only when others have to pay higher taxes.  It's not supposed to cause rich Democrats to pay more in taxes.  So they're fighting with AOC about this.  What a bunch of hypocrites.

AOC calls SALT deduction a 'gift to billionaires,' opposes effort to hold up infrastructure bill
Repealing a cap on the state and local taxes deduction would be "a giveaway to the rich," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday.

The Trump tax cut of 2017 slashed the SALT deduction to $10,000 from an unlimited amount.

Some Democrats want to get rid of the cap, as itemized deductions can be very high in blue states like New York and California.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/aoc-calls-salt-deduction-gift-211250458.html

Imaging that. All Democrats don't all agree on all the same things.

[Alan Klein]

Imaging that. All Democrats don't all agree on all the same things.

It's not that Democrats don't agree.  It's that except for two of them, they all want this Trump law reversed so more affluent people can reduce their taxes.  The hypocrisy of it is stunning. 

[faberryman]

It's not that Democrats don't agree.  It's that except for two of them, they all want this Trump law reversed so more affluent people can reduce their taxes.  The hypocrisy of it is stunning.

So I guess that means your property taxes are not as astronomical as you have lead us to believe.

[Alan Klein]

So I guess that means your property taxes are not as astronomical as you have lead us to believe.

No, they're not astronomical.  But I would save a few bucks if they change the tax law and remove the cap.  AOC can really screw things up for the state she represents.  First Amazon jobs lost.  Now this thing.  Someone should explain to her how politics are really supposed to work. 

But you have to laugh at the hypocrisy, whatever happens.

[faberryman]

No, they're not astronomical.  But I would save a few bucks if they change the tax law and remove the cap.  AOC can really screw things up for the state she represents.  First Amazon jobs lost.  Now this thing.  Someone should explain to her how politics are really supposed to work.

How would rolling back SALT screw things up for New York?

[Alan Klein]

How would rolling back SALT screw things up for New York?

Rolling back SALT limitation of $10,000 would help richer people and help keep rich New Yorkers from fleeing the state because of higher taxes.  Not reversing it would force the state to raise state taxes on their residents. AOC is against reversing the cap.  So she'll be punishing New Yorkers and New York State just as she did when she scared Amazon away to another state and lost New Yorkers 25,000 good paying Amazon jobs.  She's a dope, albeit a consistent dope.  She's a Marxist with scruples.