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Housing is cheap in small towns. As I understand it, America has "Section 8" housing which pays most of the rent for unemployed people and they pay 30% out of t
by lopmotr 7y ago
Housing is cheap in small towns. As I understand it, America has "Section 8" housing which pays most of the rent for unemployed people and they pay 30% out of their unemployment benefit. So are homeless people really just choosing to live in a city where they're not eligible for section 8 because they don't want to live in a small town? Or have they done something so badly wrong that they can't get it anywhere? If your income is too high for section 8 but too low for rent, then you need to move because your labor is worth less than your living costs.
- TomMckenny 7y agoTo get section 8 you must meet a list of requirements. Just being unemployed is not enough. Even if you qualify, there is limit to how total many section 8s are given out. So there is a waiting list of several years, during which time you must still qualify. You can not just sign up on that waiting list. There are small windows open at random a few days a year when they will accept names. No leasor is required to accept section 8 people and very few do. So even if you get a section 8 voucher, you still need a lot of luck to find a place. Thus the streets are paved with homeless.
- username90 7y agoBut in order for affordable housing to drive economic growth it needs to be in areas with lots of good jobs. Just imagine if you could rent a decent apartment in silicon valley for $600 a month, we'd see an explosion of new companies and jobs!