More Tent Cities Popping Up Around the U.S.
Published April 26, 2009 @ 09:40PM PT
The infamous Sacramento tent city may have been dismantled, the homeless tossed out, but the conversation about tent cities should not end. Today, small colonies of homeless people exist in hidden pockets of woods and land throughout the country. Many are flying under the radar screen of those who want to help (or evict) them. Since these encampments are often quiet and unobtrusive, inhabited by less than a dozen people, many go entirely unnoticed by those who live nearby.
In Milford, Connecticut, for example, an encampment of six veterans has been in existence for years, according to the CT Post:
John has lived in the same woods for several years before leaving two years ago. He recently returned, downsizing his marginal lifestyle because of the poor economy.
"I had a job, but I can't find work right now and motels get expensive," said the stocky, blue-eyed city man. "I'm re-establishing myself up here; Tommy has been up here, and Gene, most of the time since I left."
He said almost shyly that he has another connection to the woods he now calls home. "This used to be a Boy Scout camp and I used to camp out here as a kid.
"Now here I am again," John said, smiling at the irony.
"I love this town, but I don't like running into the people that I went to school with," he said. "It's a pride thing, I guess; that I had to return to this way of living.
"But when you find yourself in a situation like this, you either survive or you don't," John said.
The local paper in Clarksville, Tennessee also reported today about similar encampments popping up around town. In this case, however, the tent city residents have moved on by the time officials catch wind of the community. Per usual, this means that finding and counting these unhoused people is next to impossible. Perhaps we'll never know how dire the situation is if we can't find and count everyone living on the streets.
What does the tent city phenomenon look like in your community?
[Photo: Connecticut Post]
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Comments (2)
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Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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Sac's Tent City was just one of many and those that are still out there are always in constant danger of being closed. Nashville is fast approaching our own tent city closing deadline and it's allmost guaranteed to wreak havoc on the lives of the current residents, not to mention those who must try to assist them with very meager resources and those who will be impacted by thier sudden presence en masse in the downtown area. Why cities don't adopt Seattle's approach is beyond me, but then again, I don't see a lot of rational thinking anywhere in the public policy sphere....
Posted by Steven Samra on 04/29/2009 @ 03:22AM PT
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Aside from "tent cities" there are quite a few people living in tents, but either singly or just a couple at a location. A tent offers important advantages to just sleeping out in the open. And having a somewhat "secure" place to be able to stash items, to avoid carrying around more than necessary, is a valuable arrangement. Both of these usually rely on concealment.
There are problems with numbers of people all doing so in same areas, such as "tent cities", so many persons try to keep their "spots" secret, for some of these reasons.
Some parks and other public lands have discrete, unmonitored places. There are also "unincorporated" sections. Most anywhere there are places of potential concealment (i.e. trees/shrubbery and such features) have a high likelihood of occupants.
Posted by SlumJack Homeless on 06/06/2009 @ 08:59AM PT
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