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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTech, housing boom creates homeless crisis on West Coast
Can we talk about this for once? It just keeps getting worse and worse with each passing year with no end in sight!
SEATTLE (AP) Housing prices are soaring here thanks to the tech industry, but the boom comes with a consequence: A surge in homelessness marked by 400 unauthorized tent camps in parks, under bridges, on freeway medians and along busy sidewalks. The liberal city is trying to figure out what to do. "I've got economically zero unemployment in my city, and I've got thousands of homeless people that actually are working and just can't afford housing," said Seattle City Councilman Mike O'Brien. "There's nowhere for these folks to move to."
That struggle is not Seattle's alone. A homeless crisis is rocking the entire West Coast, pushing abject poverty into the open like never before. Public health is at risk, several cities have declared states of emergency, and cities and counties are spending millions in some cases billions in a search for solutions. San Diego now scrubs its sidewalks with bleach to counter a deadly hepatitis A outbreak. In Anaheim, 400 people sleep along a bike path in the shadow of Angel Stadium. Organizers in Portland lit incense at an outdoor food festival to cover up the stench of urine in a parking lot where vendors set up shop.
Homelessness is not new on the West Coast. But interviews with local officials and those who serve the homeless in California, Oregon and Washington coupled with an Associated Press review of preliminary homeless data confirm it's getting worse.
People who were once able to get by, even if they suffered a setback, are now pushed to the streets because housing has become so expensive. All it takes is a prolonged illness, a lost job, a broken limb, a family crisis. What was once a blip in fortunes now seems a life sentence.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Homeless-explosion-on-West-Coast-pushing-cities-12334291.php
physioex
(6,890 posts)And in his lecture he mentioned the glut of foreign investors/speculators combined with low interest rates are the primary reason real estate prices are soaring. We may also be in a housing bubble as prices are rising. I don't feel there any property that you can own in this country when you factor in property taxes and maintenance on a house. Solutions? Don't have any...
BigmanPigman
(51,609 posts)Some people are working two jobs and can't afford the rent. A 550 sq foot condo goes for $300,000! It was like that in the 2000s then the market crashed but it is back up there again. Wages are stagnant and CA is ranked 46th in state funding per student in public schools. My friends in other parts of the country do not understand how it is. Gas, food, utilities, taxes are driving people away. We do save money on heating in the winter months and it is beautiful but there is a high price to pay.