More on sober living in Burbank

If you've read this blog for awhile, you may remember the post and thread on Burbank's sober living houses. The neighbors close to a home on Clark were upset about its existence.

Sadly, a resident of one of the houses committed suicide in mid-July. According to the Burbank Leader, even that has fueled the neighborhood's ire about the home's existence. Some of the more interesting quotes:

"The news reignited neighbors’ fears about the proximity of the facility to their homes and to John Burroughs High and Walt Disney Elementary schools.“I am not saying this community is perfect and that they don’t belong, I just don’t understand why they have to be on that corner in the heart of America USA,” said one neighborhood resident.

And: "The suicide could have been harmful to local students, [another resident] said. “If school had been in session, kids could have walked right by and seen this happen.”

What?

First, Burbank is now America USA? Please define America for me. The America I live in contains addicts that need help. And kids could have seen it? I don't know if the backyard, where the suicide happened, is somehow exposed to the street, but that's really unlikely. And, school isn't in session. Also, most of the high school kids I have met recently are pretty sophisticated, and I doubt this would have warped their little minds.

But more importantly, suicides happen in every community, in every socio-economic group, and in every kind of home, not just sober living facilities. If the residents of the community want to fight sober living facilities in their neighborhoods, I suggest they come up with a real reason to do so. So far, they haven't.