Constitutional Law

Across the Country, Cities Face Wave of "Hoovervilles"

Cities, states and localities are struggling to address a rising tide of homelessness. 'These are able-bodied folks that did day labor, at minimum wage or better, who were previously able to house themselves based on their income,' said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Rising unemployment is forcing many Americans into a desperate position where, Slate writes, they 'are turning to a strategy that has cropped up repeatedly in American history – squatting.

'Squatting, or unlawfully occupying and making use of land that belongs to someone else, tends to emerge when poverty and homelessness intersect with absentee ownership.' How lawmakers have managed these situations so far has been as variable as the locations in which tent cities are arising.

'While encampments and street living have always been a part of the landscape in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, these new ten cities have taken root – or grown from smaller enclaves of the homeless as more people lose jobs and housing – in such disparate places as Nashville, Olympia, Wash., and St. Petersburg, Fla.,' reports The New York Times. 'A tent city in Sacramento prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to announce a plan Wednesday to shift the entire 125-person encampment to a nearby fairground. That came after a recent visit by ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show' set off such a news media stampede that some fed-up homeless people complained of overexposure and said they just wanted to be left alone.'

Paul Stack, operations manager of a homeless outreach center in Sacramento, said, 'They just popped up about 18 months ago. One day it was empty. The next day, there were people living there.'

In Fort Lauderdale, Fl., however, 'There are very few places … where [homeless people] can stop and park without police chasing them off,' reports CNN.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on March 26, 2009 (boomark / email).