A Tent City Near You? Tell Us About It

There are reports of tent cities popping up across the country as unemployment rises in a worsening economy. The biggest and highest-profile shantytown is in Sacramento, where hundreds of newly-homeless tent residents are cooking soup in old coffee cans.

We want to know where else this is happening.

HuffPost readers: Is there a tent city near you? Have you noticed a newly-formed community of people living together in improvised housing in a public space? Email us! Send any information you've got (or pictures) to [e-mail].

Sacramento's KCRA reported this week that city officials plan to shut the tent city down:

Comments

[jonnypeace]

The mainstream media's missing a few things on this one:
1. These tent cities bloomed not out of the bust, but out of the boomtimes.
2. Tent cities implies impermanence. These things are here to stay. Let's call them slums.

This article sums it all up quite nicely:

http://www.hcn.org/issues/41.5/tarp-nation

[Cindy Welch]

I think that, if the folks names at AIG who got bonuses becomes public, tent cities should be set up on their pristine front lawns. Now THAT'S an in-your-face moment that could not be ignored.

[BarackstarObama]

Bushvilles­... so very sad.

[munki]

The previous administration did not work hard enough prior and during transition­...

Time is Money as JFK said... and it really made a huge difference!!!!!!!!
We would have been in a much better position if we had the present administration's stimulus package...

America!!!! We need to change this!!!

This is perhaps the first example of it...

[jsarets]

Can't we find these people an abandoned Wal-Mart or something that can be easily converted into a real shelter?

[blaharumph]

converting big boxes is a really great idea.

[GeorgeKaplan]

We have had people living in tents In New Orleans since Katrina.

http://www.gadling.com/2008/02/11/tent-city-in-new-orleans-does-in-fact-exist/

[freethinking moderate]

Yes. But those were black people. These are white people suffering abd by god soemthign needs to be done about it.

[GeorgeKaplan]

True enough. Americans do have the strange ability to accept the poverty of black people in America. It becomes a "problem" when it hits the white middle class. As a white guy I would have to admit it it because I have seen this in New Orleans for years. The whole world saw it after Katrina.

[spinns17]

how about letting them live in the repo homes across america .one may be there own.

[helonias]

So when will our christian gov take care of them?

[lowgear]

study in phoenix's tent city
60% mentally ill.
25% substance abuse
>10% lifestyle by choice
< 5% vets/homeless

mentally ill: cities help individuals. interview/evaluate. if not dangerous to themselves/others they are prescribed meds. release to community as they can't be held against their will. individuals become noncompliant. cycle starts again.

substance abuse: cities help individuals. interview/evaluate. if not dangerous to themselves/others they are encuraged to participate in rehab. release to community as they can't be held against their will. individuals use drug of choice. cycle starts again.

leaves < 5% they need help.

keep things in perspective. media loves a bleeding heart story and creates 'crisis'.

makes a good story though doesn't it.

[TheBlackCat]

First off: I love that you think giving a mentally ill person drugs magically makes them perfect and able to care for themselves.

When I was younger, I developed SEVERE anorexia and had to be placed in rehab in a mental institution. I was prescribed an EXTREMELY low dose of anti psychotics­....and it was just unbelievable. It was like walking through mud. I couldn't do ANYTHING. I couldn't read, I couldn't talk for more than a couple sentences at a time. Even walking a few feet was a struggle. I promise you I wouldn't have been able to work as a WalMart greeter in that position. It worked in that it made me not be a danger to myself, stop self harming and agree to eat, but while I was on them, i was dead inside and incapable of doing even the simplest tasks. For someone who's SEVERELY mentally ill and has to take high dose anti psychotics­...you can't even imagine that. It takes every ounce of strength in your body just to put one foot in front of the other. Is it any wonder many find essentially being dead worse than being crazy?

Maybe you shouldn't comment on things you know nothing about.

[AZBunny]

Please cite where you got these statics from. thank you

[research]

What a deceptive comment!

"CBS13 called the county, the city and outreach organizations. They all say it doesn't exist anymore. The only "Tent City" in Phoenix houses inmates for the county jail."

http://cbs13.com/local/tent.city.brandi.2.952758.html

IT'S a JAIL!

[rf-hawaii]

Perhaps Phoenix is different than other places. The new tent cities across the country certainly don't fit with your stats. Otherwise why did they just appear after the economy went in the tank?

[lowgear]

study in phoenix arizona tent city.
60% mentally ill.
25% alcoholics, addicts.
>10% lifestyle by choice.

[GeorgeKaplan]

Spam

[lowgear]

study in phoenix arizona tent city.

60% mentally ill.
25% alcoholics, addicts.
>10% lifestyle by choice.

[lowgear]

study in phoenix arizona tent city.
60% mentally ill.
25% alcoholics, addicts.
>10% lifestyle by choice.

[nomoredead]

Took you 5 post to figure it out. You might be in that 60%.

[lowgear]

[rf-hawaii]

How many are human?

[cmonppl]

Let's remember a lot of these people are in tents now because they were targeted regardless of their best efforts - victims of job losses due to paranoid banks refusing to continue to offer their workplaces the usual long-standing credit lines, or they were victims of predatory lending practices, or because of circumstances beyond their control such as losing a family member whose income they relied upon, or mounting medical bills due to accidents and illnesses. The percentage or people who just went out on a limb to buy something they knew they could not afford are a small percentage of the whole, and this entire situation is testing the level of compassion we have as a people.

[cmonppl]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/11-9 "Homeowner Rip-Offs Spark Scores of Lawsuits"

[njb444]

Bushville.­..

[baddadd47]

I know Bush forced all these idiots to buy homes they KNEW they could NOT afford, and you should call them ACORNvilles as they pressed the banks to give the bad loans under the threat of harassment, but hey who expects you libs to take any responsibility for your own follish actions certainly not other libs.

I used to stop and help people on the highway who were broke down but now I wont stop for ANY car with with obama stcikers or anybody I even suspect of being a lib, so if you live in San Jose and hear someone honk at you while your broke down that would be ME, I mean since I have tried to help and still am saddled with such horrific monikers why not live up to the name, no more charity no more volunteering done I will keep my money and time. I told my wife why bother helping, it was never like we looked for praise or thanks but I have no motivation to help people who hate me why would I. I was hoping things would get better and people would move on but its just gotten worse and you all have no intention of letting go and even trying to mend fences and I did try but the constant bashing and name calling and defaming and the like its just pointless, so you win I give up and i am done trying.

[williams411]

Good riddance.

[Slapmewhenitsover]

This moronic attempt to justify your slanted behavior will never be believed.

I hardly think that a person who makes such comments EVER tried to help anyone.

If you are going to lie, try to make it believable.

Do you have any idea what you are talking about?

We certainly do not!

[helonias]

Didn't Bush WANT a home ownership society?

[TioNed]

I see No Child Left Behind didn't work for you....

You really think ACORN forced all those mortgage brokers to fill my mail slot with flyers advertising "Prestamos sin enganche" or "Puede sacar mortgage con matricula consular"? If so, I've got a large bridge in New York I'll swap for your pickup truck and double-wid­e...

[Katzencats]

This is the second time in this thread you've posted this story. Therefore, I don't believe your protest about not wanting thanks or praise - of course you do, otherwise why would you bother to post it twice? The way *I* see it is that you ask the question "what's in it for me?" & if the answer is "nothing", your response is a middle finger. I can believe you're a "baddadd".

It doesn't occur to you that a good chunk of the homeless are in that condition because they lost their jobs???

As an aside, does anyone else find it ludicrous (at the least) that the Republicans are blaming the implosion of the ENTIRE WORLD ECONOMY on several thousand poor people in America? Who knew the poor had so much power?

[1differentdrummer]

Bushville rings, but try Republicanville, too. Back in the day they were Hoovervilles, same party, same result. Maybe Bush/Repub­licanville­?

[nomoredead]

Someone should get pictures of these camps with a big sign like ' Bushville' ( remember ' Mission Accomplished ') so more people can realize what is happening out there and think about donating to their favorite charity.

[AZBunny]

Actually they should be called Free Marketvilles. Remember Clinton was the one who signed into law at Phil Graham's urging the reversal of the Glass-Steagall Act. One of the biggest causes of this mess we are in. And dare I point out the Clinton NAFTA fiasco???

[Medit8]

It is not always true that people fall on hard times financially because of bad decisions and should, therefore not be given assistance to "enable" their plight.
There is a such a thing as luck too and being at the right place at the right time. Not all good fortune is a result of great decision-making; sometimes it is, but not always.

We had serious financial problems a few years back because of extenuating circumstances. We know many other reasonable, educated, resourceful people that have had financial difficulties, too. Someimes assistance is just the thing to get people back on their feet so that they do not spiral down continuously but can start to rebuild a life. Sure there will be those that abuse help or "the system" but there are also the wealthy that abuse the system, too, they just have access to a different system.

It is terrible to see this happening anywhere. It is wise and compassionate to help those who are in need. I can't fathom who is going to have the horrible task of "kicking" these people out of the public area they now call home.

[Tipotter]

Plenty plenty plenty of safety nets in place. Look at Cali. That is what happens when you just give people things. You need to work at the problem, not just keep pretending you can make everyone happy despite the facts and numbers never adding up. Yeah it feels good to give free College, and Homeless people 3000 calories a day, but thats just creating more of a problem, proofs in the pudding.

[AZBunny]

Tipotter read High Wire. The safety nets have been dismantled. Stop pretending taking care of people causes problems. NOT taking care of people causes problems

[rf-hawaii]

Republicans are always focusing on the few cases of abuse, blowing them out of proportion.

Republicans live in a world of scarcity which they create. They believe there's not enough to go around so they hoard and make it true. Helping poor people is a waste of resources. The idea that they are our neighbors, our extended family, never occurs to them.

[brooklyncitizen]

Amen. It's also important to find help at the right time and too often that is not the case.Not everyone has access to resources.

[jinxed]

Another Reagan legacy ... he sure had great ideas, didn't he. I hope he went some place extremely warm for all the pain and misery he foisted upon the mentally ill, the poor, the sick, the uneducated and the unemployed.

[MargaretO]

Oh, I agree, wholeheartedly. Every time someone waxes on about how great a President he was, I could scream.

[brooklyncitizen]

Ditto....w­hen did that happen? I'll never forget his funeral and all the people that lauded him I thought they had buried the wrong guy.

[petphotos]

I was stationed in Northern California when Reagan was Governor and remember how he was either loved or hated. Could sure see then why he was hated.