8mo ago

Some tech bros who want to disrupt things should match up companies that need night security and have huge empty parking lots with those who live in their car and need to park somewhere.

People frequently state the statistic about the number of empty houses and apartments versus the number of homeless.

There are 27.4 Empty Homes for Each Homeless Person in the U.S

Well, there's about a million times more empty parking spots versus people living in their car.

19 comments

... that's clever.
You'd need some sort of vetting process, I don't think companies would be interested in unvetted randos as part of their security. But if you could figure out a way to vet them inexpensively, that could potentially be marketable.
I suspect this thinking is part of what contributes to Walmart's historic friendliness to car campers.
- Walmarts had historically been 24 hour stores, until covid came around. People who stay overnight in their parking lots are more likely to make purchases from the store.
  
  I miss 24 hour stores :/
  
  Also the founder Sam Walton used to do a lot of long road trips when he was getting Wal Mart off the ground, and had warm feelings toward travelers.
- There's a reason that we don't let people be employed and their only payment is food and shelter.
  
  Gotta protect those homeless people from being stuck in a predatory job that gives them food and shelter?
- They will worry they will become campers. And then during the day it will look bad for employees or customers trying to park there.
It's almost as if those huge parking lots are why people can't afford homes and why those companies need night security. Cities where people live close to stores and aren't surrounded by car infrastructure are safer and have cheaper homes.
Except that, the primary reason the companies want night security is to keep away the homeless and randos, so this is the last thing they'd be doing
Why though? They are already paying very little for security, would they pay less? If so, would it not lower the quality?
If they wanted to rent out (or even let people, out of the goodness of their heart) to use their parking lots they would have.
Imo it won’t work because security is already rather cheap so you’ll just attract people who would want to maybe do some stealing.
No way any insurance company ever underwrites this ever and that kills it’s scalability, let alone basic implementation immediately. Like yes we need to solve the housing crisis, but thinking that salvation has any chance of coming from “tech bros” is laughable at best and wildly dangerous at medium worse.
- No way any insurance company ever underwrites this ever and that kills it’s scalability, let alone basic implementation immediately. Like yes we need to solve the housing crisis, but thinking that salvation has any chance of coming from “tech bros” is laughable at best and wildly dangerous at medium worse.
  Most large cities now have safe parking sites for people. Here's just one of many examples: https://safeparkingla.org/
  How is that being done with insurance companies and liability? That's not a rhetorical question. I'd like you to answer it since you know so much about laws and insurance.
  The showerthought requires a paradigm shift in thinking the same way renting out a room in your house or the whole house to stranger would seem weird pre-AirBnB.
  Tech Bros invented AirBnB, and using your car as a taxi, and trusting strangers to handle your food.
  You could have just replied, "I don't think it can be done" but you had to be nasty and write "laughable at best and wildly dangerous at medium worse".
  
  Are you actually trying to advocate that uber, lyft, and Airbnb have all been net positives for the working class? Yes I will absolutely say it again, trusting the idea that ‘tech bros’ are going to provide the answers to scoieties ills like homelessness and that Airbnb and uber are good examples of that happening is fucking laughable.
  There’s a difference between non profit organizations establishing safe haven spaces for people living in their cars and a company that pays people to sleep in their lots and provide security instead of hiring actual security.
  I don’t think it can be done, and thinking tech bros can solve shit is how we got Elon musk yall.
  I'd like you to answer it since you know so much about laws and insurance.
  Just as soon as you approve my rate sheet and put down a retainer.

19 comments