Here are your responses: ✆ “The idea of light rail coming to Santa Monica is good, but they’ve got to take stringent measures to make sure the homeless don’t get out of hand, but I think they should have a transit center for a light rail. It’s a good idea.” ✆ “The idea of the transportation coming from downtown LA to Sears would be a disaster. All the homeless would be coming to Santa Monica, and it would cause the city to have more problems than necessary. Sears should be kept as is and refurbished and keep it going; it’s a good place. Why should we have to give our lifestyle to the homeless who don’t do nothing anyway.” ✆ “In response to this week’s question, no, it would not be a good thing to have this easy access from downtown LA to Santa Monica. We would inherit even more bums, and low-downers and indigents and drug-addicts, etc., etc. We are overwhelmed now with the bus transportation and the do-gooders dropping them off here. But this City Council will do whatever they like doing, since they can’t see beyond the end of their noses, and then only do they see dollar signs. Never mind the will of the people, or the safety of the people, or the quality of life of the people, whom they are supposed to be serving.” ✆ “Transportation systems have nothing to do with Santa Monica and the world’s homeless situation. The workplace now demands highly-skilled, formally-educated individuals. This fact compounded by the high cost of living will soon be beyond the capabilities of many individuals who will end up without shelter. America’s free enterprise system exceeds the capabilities of many, especially those who are honest. The only entity that has the resources to implement change for the better is the federal government. When one considers the $500 billion annual cost to maintain our military in Iraq, only to lose their lives in a battle with no measurable returns for the United States of America, one would wonder about what has happened to the heart, soul and conscience of our once-great country. A few billion dollars a year would go a long way in abating America’s homeless situation. The time for the government to act is now. To procrastinate will eventually cause the U.S.A. to lose its blessings from high, as well it should.” ✆ “Even if they do use the Sears property for rail transit, it will take them forever to build it, and it will cost 10 times what they say it’s going to cost, so it’s probably not worth it anyway. But as far as all the bums are concerned, it would be good if all the Santa Monica bums used it to go to Skid Row and stay there. But probably the other way will happen — all the Skid Row bums will come to Santa Monica, because hey, if you’re gonna be a bum you might as well be a bum on the beach or in Santa Monica where you get everything for free anyway.” ✆ “Easier public transit between Santa Monica and downtown LA would be great — a very welcome and a long overdue development. The homeless have nothing to do with it. They can get to Santa Monica easily enough today by public bus. They come, not because of easy transportation, but because their presence is welcomed and encouraged by the people who run this city, and by the institutions which are generously funded and supported by the city.” ✆ “My observation from riding the Santa Monica bus between downtown and Santa Monica is that there’s really not that much of a transient problem using the buses to get to Santa Monica. They already have access to the MTA metro busses, and in my neighborhood in Santa Monica, they tend to set up campers, drive their campers and camp on the streets. A lot of them have cars. If you ride the red line or the light rail, the gold line going to Pasadena or down to Long Beach, you won’t see that many homeless, certainly a lot less than on the buses. I really don’t think it will be a problem, and it will really help relieve congestion and get cars off the road, and allow us other options.” ✆ “If they could get any train to run through the Westside, but they can’t — they haven’t done that.” ✆ “Another dumb question. Would the viability of transportation to or from downtown LA be a good thing in light of our city’s homeless population? They are not the only ones that live in this world but they do live in this world. Get a life.” ✆ “We’ve handed our parks over to the homeless. Now you are suggesting that they can’t be used as an excuse to deprive us of public transportation? Happily, we already have the No. 10 blue bus as our quick link to downtown Los Angeles.” ✆ “No. I don’t believe that easy transportation to and from downtown Los Angeles would be a good thing. Not just because of the homeless population but the gang population that would have easier access and be faster from where they live to Santa Monica. I have witnessed on the bus, on the 33 and the 333, the criminal gang element like tattoos, loud talking. The fear that passengers have from the elements on the bus coming to the beach. I’m against it. There is enough criminal element here. We don’t need transportation that would get them here faster.” ✆ “Yes.” ✆ “... If this week’s question... is insinuating that the Skid Row homeless may have a more palatable choice for laying around on the sidewalks, then that’s a pretty enlightened question and kudos to the person who thought of this. It possibly could be a terminal blow to us. We already have the sidewalk layers stinking up the place. So it could be a potentially serious issue for us, making our problem so much worse and... good question. Congratulations to the person who sought down this path... this question. It could really impact us tenfold with our problem as it currently stands.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 24, 2006. Read the original PDF.