美国国家公共电台 NPR Laws That Prohibit Sleeping Outside Don't Fix The Problem Of Homelessness

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A woman lived in her car in front of our apartment building for a couple of weeks. Our family brought down some food, clothing and a blanket, but the woman hesitated to open her door when we knocked and smiled. After all, who were we? Why should she trust us?

We did not call police or a city agency to say there's a woman living in a car on our street. I've reported stories where I've spent the night in city homeless shelters. They can feel crowded and unsafe and have little privacy. I can see why someone would choose to stay on the street or in their car.

Neighbors told us that city social workers came to speak with the woman in the car. And days later, the woman was gone. We hoped she'd been brought someplace safe.

A few days after that, my wife saw a city worker hook up the woman's car to be towed. He said he didn't know where the woman in the car had been taken - it was a different department - but that she could reclaim¹ her car after she paid several thousand dollars in fines. My wife pointed² out that the woman had probably taken shelter in her car because she couldn't afford to pay for a place to live, much less any penalties to recover her car. The city worker was courteous³ and seemed concerned, but he emphatically explained he was just there to tow the car.

A report this week from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty says more and more American cities, large and small, are passing laws that make it illegal to sleep outside on the street, in a park or in your own car. The Housing Department says homelessness has dropped over the past decade, but the number of homeless people don't have anywhere to stay is beginning to grow and become more visible.

In high-tech⁴ headquarter cities like Seattle or San Francisco, housing costs keep rising. There are many people who work and have families, then still wind up living in their cars. They drive to work or to look for work but don't earn enough to afford a place to live.

I understand that cities don't want encampments in their neighborhoods. They want public spaces to be open and safe. But passing laws to make it illegal to sleep outside or in your car doesn't resolve the problems of people who have no place to live. It just relocates them in a season that exalts⁵ a family that, 2,000 years ago, couldn't find room at the inn.

(SOUNDBITE OF DR. TOAST'S "UNTOUCHABLE NUMBER")

1 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

4 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

5 exalts   

赞扬( exalt的第三人称单数 )； 歌颂； 提升； 提拔

参考例句：

• How the thought exalts me in my own eyes! 这种思想在我自己的眼睛里使我身价百倍啊！
• Fancy amuses; imagination expands and exalts us. 幻想使人乐，想象则使我们开阔和升华。