I'm not sure if those pictures are reinforcing your point here. Tents are very mobile haha.
they’re not in their tents 24/7 just as they’re not in bscc or a shelter 24/7. they are there because everything is close including pedestrians and traffic to panhandle, cheap food and liquor, transit and pedestrian connections (trails and sidewalks), petty crime opportunities, lanes, detached garages, bottle depots, recycling yards, day/casual labour opportunities (many of them prefer any employment they can get), places to warm (library to lrt stations), access to drugs, emergency services (fire and ambulance), hospitals and public health providers…
i don’t believe any of them wanted to live that life style growing up or had parents hoping that’s where their children would end up. they are all still people with many of the same human needs we all have and one of those is having friends and acquaintances sharing a lifestyle whether or not it’s one of choice or an unhealthy one.
this is not to excuse or condone what is in these pictures because what’s in these pictures is criminal. the biggest crime however is a society that both creates and allows (some would say nurtures) what is in these pictures.
these people didn’t materialize out of thin air - we have built a society that includes a veritable pipeline of broken people that end up here. it is incumbent upon us to recognize that the root of the problem isn’t a lack of shelter beds and services, it’s creating the need for shelter beds and services. until we do that however, there will still be a need for the shelter beds and services such as those bscc provides.
