4 ms·

You can rent an apartment in Urbana, IL for $350/month where the minimum wage is $8.25. The HUD rule of thumb is that a person on that income would not be "cost

by arebop 9y ago

You can rent an apartment in Urbana, IL for $350/month where the minimum wage is $8.25. The HUD rule of thumb is that a person on that income would not be "cost-burdened" by a rent of up to $458/month. So although housing affordability is a real problem on the west coast, it doesn't really explain homelessness. The homeless on the west coast are people who either have deeper problems than affordability (such as profound disability/drug addiction), or who simply prefer to be homeless in LA than housed in a less fashionable part of the country.

PhasmaFelis 9y ago
> who simply prefer to be homeless in LA than housed in a less fashionable part of the country. I don't believe this is true. Many homeless people may make their way to the west coast because they'd be homeless either way and services (and weather) are better in LA (often with "help" from their local government, since a bus ticket is much cheaper than actual support). But ideological freegans who actually choose to leave decent homes and jobs are a microscopic fraction.
s0rce 9y ago
Also, it costs money to move across the country. It would be interesting to know if there are charities that help with relocation and getting people back on their feet with minimum wage jobs and housing in lower cost of living areas.
- koolba 9y ago
  Sometimes cities will fund it themselves. A one way bus ticket out of town is way cheaper than providing housing.
  - DoreenMichele 9y ago
    There is some truth to this, but it is much, much more common to stick you in the back seat of a police car or sheriff's vehicle and drive you to the edge of their jurisdiction and drop you by the side of the road. In some cases, it is done nicely and helpfully because you are traveling on foot, it saves you a bunch of walking and you don't die in their jurisdiction. Other times, it is asshole behavior for pan handling (I never panhandled, I just know it happens). When I was in downtown San Diego, word on the street was that there was an organization that would help with travel to get back home. But when I have searched online, I haven't located such info. I have idly wondered if we could create an organization for donating travel points of various sorts to help homeless people get train tickets or other travel expenses covered.
DoreenMichele 9y ago
I recently left California and moved to a less fashionable part of the country to get off the street. It cost me hundreds of dollars to travel to another state by train and I needed to pay deposit and first month's rent in a lump sum, essentially. I was able to do it because I developed portable (online) income while homeless. If you have to pay for the trip first and then job hunt while homeless and then save up the money to make the deposit while working while homeless...etc...this is a substantial obstacle to getting back into housing. Furthermore, most places do not have the dry weather of SoCal. A lot of homeless people go there specifically because camping in dry, temperate weather is less of a burden. Moving elsewhere while homeless means being out in rain and cold and snow. Then, once you are there in SoCal, it becomes a trap that is hard to escape because housing in California is not affordable.

by arebop 9y ago

PhasmaFelis 9y ago

> who simply prefer to be homeless in LA than housed in a less fashionable part of the country. I don't believe this is true. Many homeless people may make their way to the west coast because they'd be homeless either way and services (and weather) are better in LA (often with "help" from their local government, since a bus ticket is much cheaper than actual support). But ideological freegans who actually choose to leave decent homes and jobs are a microscopic fraction.

s0rce 9y ago

Also, it costs money to move across the country. It would be interesting to know if there are charities that help with relocation and getting people back on their feet with minimum wage jobs and housing in lower cost of living areas.

koolba 9y ago
Sometimes cities will fund it themselves. A one way bus ticket out of town is way cheaper than providing housing.
- DoreenMichele 9y ago
  There is some truth to this, but it is much, much more common to stick you in the back seat of a police car or sheriff's vehicle and drive you to the edge of their jurisdiction and drop you by the side of the road. In some cases, it is done nicely and helpfully because you are traveling on foot, it saves you a bunch of walking and you don't die in their jurisdiction. Other times, it is asshole behavior for pan handling (I never panhandled, I just know it happens). When I was in downtown San Diego, word on the street was that there was an organization that would help with travel to get back home. But when I have searched online, I haven't located such info. I have idly wondered if we could create an organization for donating travel points of various sorts to help homeless people get train tickets or other travel expenses covered.

DoreenMichele 9y ago

I recently left California and moved to a less fashionable part of the country to get off the street. It cost me hundreds of dollars to travel to another state by train and I needed to pay deposit and first month's rent in a lump sum, essentially. I was able to do it because I developed portable (online) income while homeless. If you have to pay for the trip first and then job hunt while homeless and then save up the money to make the deposit while working while homeless...etc...this is a substantial obstacle to getting back into housing. Furthermore, most places do not have the dry weather of SoCal. A lot of homeless people go there specifically because camping in dry, temperate weather is less of a burden. Moving elsewhere while homeless means being out in rain and cold and snow. Then, once you are there in SoCal, it becomes a trap that is hard to escape because housing in California is not affordable.