Tent Cities Grow in California as Foreclosures Increase
Tent cities are cropping up in southern California, one of the regions hardest hit by the sub-prime mortgage and foreclosure crisis. Various news reports estimate anywhere from 300 to over 1,200 people, many of them whole families, living in tents in Sacramento. With homeless shelters full, many of the homeless are victims of job losses or foreclosures and have nowhere else to go.
The makeshift tent city, which lies within sight of Sacramento’s skyscrapers, has no electricity or plumbing.
Residents include a husband and wife who worked for the same company and who were both laid off on the same day1, as well as a Vietnam veteran whose leg operation allowed him to walk after years in a wheelchair, but which also caused his disability payments to stop. Once the payments dried up, he could no longer afford to pay his rent.2 Other residents said they were there because they could no longer afford their mortgage payments. Many of the homeless include those who worked in construction. Read more »
