The tent city is back. With the foreclosure crisis worsening and the economy faltering, more people are living in cars or tents. In Santa Barbara, a parking lot has been designated for people who sleep in their vehicles. In Reno, Nevada, Portland, Oregon, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, tent cities have sprung up.
A recent AP story focuses on Reno and how, a few weeks after the first tents were pitched near the railroad tracks, more than 150 people were living "in tents big and small, barely a foot apart in a patch of dirt slated to be a parking lot for a campus of shelters."
From the AP: "From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation.
Nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report's release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening."
In Reno, where even the casinos have started to lay off employees, city officials have let the tent city stay because the homeless shelters are already at capacity.
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Isn't it hot in Reno? Roll down the car windows.
Thankfully, we are going to spend $700 billion + to bail out rich bankers and investors who made reckless loans. I doubt we'll see any Bentleys or Rolls Royces in the tent cities.
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