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Cities Prop Up Homeless Camps

Squeezed shelters, recession prompt local government tolerance

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 11, 2009 11:19 AM CDT
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(Newser) – With room tight in homeless shelters, municipalities across the US are allowing tent cities to stand—after years spent breaking up homeless clusters, the Wall Street Journal reports. In some areas, the encampments are even supplied with basic services like portable toilets and medical care. “There is no place to put them,” says a Nashville homeless official of the dwellers, especially when cities are trying to cut budgets.

The recession may have helped make local governments “less inclined to crack down quite as hard on people,” says a sociologist, leading to tent cities from Florida to California to Washington state. But some nearby residents aren’t happy about tolerant policies, and are organizing campaigns to shut down the tent cities. The proximity of an encampment could “devalue my home" and "devalue my community,” says a Tampa man.

Judy McGill closes her tent in an area where a camp has sprung up under a bridge in Providence, RI, Friday, Aug. 7, 2009.
Judy McGill closes her tent in an area where a camp has sprung up under a bridge in Providence, RI, Friday, Aug. 7, 2009.   (AP Photo/Eric J. Shelton)
Divine, only name given, uses a shopping cart to move her possessions from the homeless encampment where she has been living, in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
Divine, only name given, uses a shopping cart to move her possessions from the homeless encampment where she has been living, in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, April 15, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Carol Carlile walks to her tent in a homeless encampment known as Tent City in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, March 19, 2009.
Carol Carlile walks to her tent in a homeless encampment known as "Tent City" in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, March 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
kyleleitch
Aug 11, 2009 10:04 AM CDT
@Radzyn, not necessarily. Yes, to make them more residential in nature, but have you ever seen the inside of a homeless shelter, or for that matter a tent? An office building is vastly more livable than a shelter. Not to mention, the cost of keeping a homeless person alive (because they go to the hospital too, some commit crimes and go to jail) is quite a lot. I think that the cost of upgrading an office building a little would pay for itself in the long run. Additionally, moving the homeless is only part of the solution. While there are some homeless people who are content with where they are or there are some who don't want to work, the majority are there because they were dealt a bad hand and would jump at the chance to work. Helping these people learn how to find a job, get cleaned up, etc. pays for itself too.
kyleleitch
Aug 11, 2009 9:59 AM CDT
These are the same type as those who think they shouldn't have to pay for someone else's health care.
freethemall
Aug 11, 2009 8:58 AM CDT
You got that right, K-guy, and the situation would be even worse, had it not been for the stimulus money going to states and municipalities. We needed a bigger stimulus package but, alas, the necessity of getting 60 votes in the United States Senate, prevented this.
US

 
homeless • tent city • financial crisis • homeless encampment • homeless shelter • recession depression

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