City of Austin leaders can"end the vicious cycle" of homelessness by providing"proper care" in terms of addiction or mental illness, The Joint Chiropractic owner Larry Maddalena said on"The Big Money Show" Tuesday.
Amid the growing problem, Austin’s ranking on the U.S. News & World Report’s annual "Best Places to Live" list has, coming in at No. 40 of 150 cities. Texas’ capital ranked No. 1 on the list from 2017 to 2019. It dropped out of the top 10 for the first time last year as the city's growth made it more expensive and increasingly prone to violent crime and homelessness.
"Austin has experienced a greatening uptake in homeless over the last three years," Maddalena said. "We're about 400 officers short right now, and we're just seeing a huge increase in the homeless in businesses: break-ins are up, homicides are up 8% over last year, arson up 67% over last year. And this is totally impacting businesses and residents."