The number of Dallasites who consider homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling a major issue continues to remain significantly higher than those who disagree.
In a February poll conducted by The Dallas Express, a total of 50% of respondents considered these problems to be major obstacles for the city, while only 30% disagreed.
An additional 20% of Dallas residents indicated that they were unsure.
Broken down by self-described political alignment, in February, “centrists” were the most concerned with the issues of homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling.
Just over 59% of centrists answered yes when asked if they considered those societal disorders a serious problem in Dallas. On the other hand, 26% suggested it was not that serious, and 15% said they were unsure.
Looking at the wings, those on the left thought it was a more serious problem than those on the right.
Half of those on the far and center-left thought the issue was important. However, 37% of those on the far left did not think such things were problematic (compared to 12% among center-lefts), while 13% were unsure (compared to 38% among center-lefts).
On the center-right, 43% believed homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling to be collectively a serious problem, while 50% said they did not. Only 7% were unsure.
The far-right had a higher percentage who confessed they did not know if such issues were significantly impacting the city, with nearly 30% answering that way. Nevertheless, 41% suggested it was an issue, and 29% disagreed.
The decrease in total citizens viewing homelessness and vagrancy as a vital issue comes as Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson recently announced the formation of a task force on Homelessness, Organizations, Policies, and Encampments (HOPE), as reported by The Dallas Express.
The group will present a report to the City in June with an evaluation of the issues and suggested solutions.
In his speech on the occasion, Johnson suggested, “Like every major city in the United States, Dallas has been affected by increasing homelessness in recent years.”
Residents, Johnson continued, “see growing numbers of encampments in their neighborhoods. They see people passed out on the sidewalks. They see people walking naked on the streets. They see trash. They see waste. They see tents pitched on our freeway underpasses.”
“They want, and they expect to live in a city that does not tolerate, and certainly does not facilitate, disorder,” the mayor concluded.
This is so ironic how America has it’s own personal issue of Homelessness and they have yet to solve it for the past 30 years but it seems everyone has a solution for the border crisis. Homelessness has been an overlooked issue until now and it has definitely gotten out of control but yet we read about stories of the police being told to leave them alone. Something must be done to control it because we know it will definitely never be eliminated Because some people just insist on being homeless no matter what social services are offered to them to get a leg up on life. No one wants to make a concerted effort to attack the issue because they don’t want to be viewed as the bad guy looking down on the less fortunate but the truth is most of them prefer to be out there living by their own rules,so the question is what can we do for the ones who actually want to be saved from the streets and what do we do for the ones who want to stay homeless? We need to get a universal plan together to attack this issue all over America because it will definitely become a larger issue as each year passes.
What do the left leaning center right think?
Homelessness, some of us are just a paycheck away from being homeless. It is a sad situation. I help when I can . I volunteered at a soup kitchen one thanksgiving in the past. I talked to some of the people and wanted to know their story. Some were educated lost their job and no family to live with could never get back on their feet, some were injured on the job took pain killers which escalated to street drugs to stop the pain. I wish I was rich , I would try to do a lot more than our mayor and governor are doing. With that extra surplus of money that texas has. We really need to do something ! Whether it’s fixable is yet to be seen, but we need to try to do the best we can. Are we out brothers keeper? Yes we are. Regenterfercation only makes the rich richer I watch what’s happening in my neighborhood. Children sold their parents home and now they are homeless once they spent the money. It’s a no win situation for some.