See today's New York Times editorial for an excellent piece about how the homeless can be good neighbors & citizens.

Published: November 7, 2008

New York City pioneered the strategy of providing homeless people not just with housing but with drug treatment, psychiatric care and other services they need to live successfully on their own. Even with all the add-ons, supportive housing apartment buildings cost substantially less than shelters and are many times less expensive than jails or beds in psychiatric hospitals.

This strategy is taking root all over the country and proving beyond a doubt that people who were once homeless can be good neighbors and good citizens. Unfortunately, many neighborhoods are continuing to fight the developments, believing that they bring down property values. A long-awaited study from New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy should put an end to that misperception.

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Click here to read the whole piece