Tent cities?
Yikes. A colleague passed me this article from MSNBC.com about tent cities popping up in Reno, Seattle, Fresno, Chattanooga and a number of other major U.S. Cities. This is something that predates the current crisis this week (the economic downturn isn’t moving quite that fast) but is mostly made up of people who have already lost homes because of the subprime mortgage crisis. Most of the tent cities are outside homeless shelters, essentially functioning as makeshift shelter extension facilities.
Some of the cities in the piece are places where large populations of immigrant workers live; others are home to larger than average numbers of black Americans, who (as detailed brilliantly in this Kai Wright piece) are losing their homes and wealth at a far greater level than any other group.
I’m not sure what to call these in our 2008 crisis (in 1929 they were Hoovervilles. Bushtowns? Cheneyburgh?) but it’s very sobering to see. Also I usually try to offer some kind of helpful link or action when I post something like this but I’m stumped today; I’ll update over the weekend when I find something good.
About The Author - Ben Wyskida is a writer, activist, conscientious hedonist and political communications strategist living in Brooklyn. - Visit Ben's site.
One of those people has a bike! What kinda Rockefellers are these?
Today’s economy = bad for poor working class people and minorities; good for REI.