Tent Cities Rise Up Across America

[Better Believe It]

In hard times, tent cities rise across the country
Associated Press
September 18, 2008

RENO, Nev. - A few tents cropped up hard by the railroad tracks, pitched by men left with nowhere to go once the emergency winter shelter closed for the summer. Then others appeared — people who had lost their jobs to the ailing economy, or newcomers who had moved to Reno for work and discovered no one was hiring.

Within weeks, more than 150 people were living in tents big and small, barely a foot apart in a patch of dirt slated to be a parking lot for a campus of shelters Reno is building for its homeless population. Like many other cities, Reno has found itself with a "tent city" — an encampment of people who had nowhere else to go.

From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation.

Nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report's release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening.

Please read the entire article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26776283

Homeless encampments are springing up around the country, including this one next to the homeless shelter in downtown Reno, Nev.



Robert Scott Cook, originally from Alaska, sits with one of his dogs, Zoey, at the tent city that sprung up next to the homeless shelter in Reno, Nev.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Is there any way these folks can register to vote? Their voices need to be heard...

[ColbertWatcher]

4. That's a good question. n/t

[bdamomma]

5. this thuggish government will find a way to squash their ability

to vote.

[Better Believe It]

7. They Have Rights?

If they can produce a passport, drivers license, birth certificate and proof of residence such as a phone and electric bill, no problem!

What?

They have everything listed above except a phone and electricity in their tents?

Well, so sorry .... the government won't let them vote.

[datasuspect]

8. arm the homeless

[Greyhound]

11. I know they can in CA (unless Ahnuld screwed that up too), I'm guessing they don't

in Nevada.

[The Stranger]

30. What if they vote Republican?

[billyoc]

2. McHoovervilles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooverville

[rosesaylavee]

15. Bushtowns.

[redqueen]

25. The problem is more than Bush or McCain... or Hoover.

We need a better name... one that addresses the true cause.

[rosesaylavee]

29. Agreed. How about

Less-than-shiny-white-cities-on-the-hill?
Reagan-towns
Republican Villages
Trickle-Down Tent Cities

BTW, have long admired your animated stick figures. They make me laugh just about every time I see them.

[redqueen]

34. Yes... Trickledown Tentcities... or maybe Freemarketvilles?

Thanks... there's a bigger version available... I have it in my photobucket if you'd like to snag a copy. :)

[proud patriot]

38. class warfare refugee camps

[bdamomma]

3. horrible.

[DemoRabbit]

6. Homeless CAN register to vote!

"Today, homeless individuals in all states--including those people who are living on the streets--have the right to register and vote. When registering to vote, homeless voters only need to designate their place of residence, which can be a street corner, a park, a shelter, or any other location where an individual stays at night. Designation of a residential address or location of residence is required to ensure the voter lives within the district in which she/he wishes to register and to assign the voter to the appropriate polling location. Usually, the location of a residence may be indicated by drawing a map or by providing a general descriptive location, if not the address of a shelter.

"In addition, most states require registrants to provide a mailing address so that voter ID cards and other election materials may be sent to registered voters. Having registrants’ mailing addresses also helps state boards of elections maintain current and accurate voter registration lists. The address provided may be that of a local advocacy organization, shelter, outreach center, or anywhere else willing to accept mail on behalf of a person registering to vote. Some states, like Arizona and Nebraska, allow homeless people to use county courthouses or county clerks’ offices as their mailing address. Some states will not allow registrants to use a P.O. Box as a mailing address. A registrant’s mailing address does not have to be the person’s residential address."

Link and more info:

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/getinvolved/projects/vote/legalissues.html

[Better Believe It]

10. Thanks For the Information

I guess we can go to our nearest tent city and sign everyone up .... seriously.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. That is excellent news...and activists DO need to be dispatched to these tent cities and other

homeless enclaves to register these folks. I think that they might want to have a voice in the government that may be responsible for their having to live in a tent city.

[Solly Mack]

9. :(

Nothing left to bail them out with...

[chknltl]

13. KnR

Thank you so much for this Ronald Reagan, Bush-1 and Bush-2 Maybe mCcain's wife will be so generous as to send them some cake.

[orestes]

14. Bushtowns, with McCainvilles promising to sprout up

if the worst happens on Nov. 4th

[rosesaylavee]

16. Didn't see your post when I posted above.

I think Bushtown is the right word too.

[curious one]

17. Sign of good economy. What is your opinion/solutions for this Senator McSame?

[wicket]

18. This is heartbreaking

[Omnibus]

19. The obvious result of Publican policy

...is more money for the rich, and more people in straits like this.

That anyone should have to live like this, in a country as rich as ours, is an indictment of our priorities as a nation.

[peacetalksforall]

20. If thinbgs get worse, perhaps we can pitch them to other countries where are jobs are.

Find a hill overlooking the buildings where others are doing our job.

I choose Ireland for the tea. Shouldn't be that expensive to buy tea.

It's coming - if we don't stop it - third world America for some of us.

[99th_Monkey]

21. I helped organize this "homeless" Tent City in Portland in 2000. Guess we were ahead of the curve.

http://dignityvillage.org

The word Homeless is in quotes because the tent city residents, having joined the encampment, did not like being
still regarded or referred to as "homeless". It was an affront to them in fact. Now they HAVE a home, damn-it.

Many even back in 2000, were hip to the machinations of The Man, and that the corporatization of America was creating
a vacuous materialistic society where many felt they just "don't fit" anywhere anymore, except on the street or in
a homeless village.

They even share(d) a vision of creating an "urban green sustainable village" with wind and solar power. The City
of Portland (bless their hearts) finally agreed to allow them to camp permanently on city-owned land, build cob
and hay-bail houses, permanent solar showers, etc.

[Dj13Francis]

22. Not Hoovervilles anymore

During the great depression these tent cities were called "Hoovervilles". It seems to me that the appropriate 21st century term would be "Bushvilles"....

[Better Believe It]

23. Tent City Residents Evicted, Dwellings Bulldozed

Tent City Residents Evicted, Dwellings Bulldozed
March 25, 2008
Ontario, California

The residents of "Ontario Tent City," a Bushville formerly home to approximately 400 homeless people, were evicted today and their possessions bulldozed. "I have nowhere to go," and "I don't know what I'm gonna do," were the refrains heard over and over.

The city government set aside the plot of land, about the size of two city blocks, in October of 2007 in order to provide an alternative to the people that were removed from smaller encampments near the Ontario Museum of History and Art and elsewhere. Since then, awareness of the camp spread through word of mouth and through the reports of print and electronic media. The city provided port-a-potties and trash removal, but the bulk of the resources were provided by volunteers, including church groups, charities, and local activists.

On March 7 however, the city announced that the area would be limited to those who could prove affiliation to the city of Ontario through school records, bills, paystubs, or by having a resident relative vouch for them. Non-Ontarians, they said, would have to leave by March 24.

During the past two weeks, residents have been intimidated into leaving of their own regard. First was the edict declaring the Bushville off-limits to minors. Then came the announcement that prompted a march to city hall: No pets allowed. For many camp-dwellers, their dogs were the only family they had. The city started segregating residents by assigning different-colored armbands. Many people preferred to leave rather than be so branded.

The cops began setting up their staging area on an empty lot across the street from the northwest corner. I saw tractors and bulldozers parked just up the street--just out of sight of the residents.

At 7:10, the first tractors moved in. They started with the northwest corner, plowing piles of peoples' possessions into the back of a city trash truck. News cameras huddled around, eager for a shot of the action.

Please read the entire at:

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2008/03/215739.php

Residents of the Ontario encampment who couldn't prove any affiliation with the city were evicted; those allowed to stay were moved and the site was bulldozed.

[redqueen]

24. This is the legacy of conservative administrations...

hopefully we'll remember the lesson this time.

[Ishoutandscream2]

26. My grandparents were young newlyweds in 1933

And the stories they would tell me were horrifying. My granddad would always say, "To hell with the good ol days." And he grew up a poor dirt farmer in Oklahoma, and thought FDR was a God.

I'm glad they aren't around to see pictures like this. I'm sure they would never expect something like this to ever happen in our great land. But here we are again, just like the early 30's. And it looks like Barack and a Democratically controlled congress will have to reprise the role of the New Deal.

[ensho]

27. all the people displaced by Ike, from Tx. to midwest, to the E.

will or have run out of money and will be tenting too.

recent past floods and the coming floods have reduced people's finances to a point of tent living.

[Sanctified]

28. Here is a great site for getting more information on tent cities.

http://www.tentcitiestoolkit.org/

[Better Believe It]

35. Thanks For The Link

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

31. Bushelters

[Aristus]

32. Could we call them "McCain McMansions"?

I think that's a good, catchy name for them.

[Hubert Flottz]

33. They need to move in with McCain...

He has all those houses.

[4 t 4]

36. The entire bad mortgage

failure was a set up so people couldn't vote.

[lonestarnot]

37. I believe it to be another leg of the plan.

[Better Believe It]

39. AMERICA'S TENT CITY OF FAILURE - FROM FRANCE 24

Two must see videos:


http://www.vloggingtheapocalypse.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=499&title=TENT_CITIES_SPRING_UP_IN_LOS_ANGELES


http://www.vloggingtheapocalypse.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=582&title=AMERICA_S_TENT_CITY_OF_FAILURE___FROM_FRANCE_24&vpkey=