Where did all the homeless people go?

During Economic hard times, people generally get more sympathetic towards the plight of others, knowing that they themselves are but one or two paychecks away from being in the same predicament.

Although Tent Cities are popping up everywhere, and the homeless in areas with stricter Transient laws are getting smarter and more evasive, the majority of homeless are being taken in by neighbors, friends, and family.

I'm seeing two to three families living in single family houses and apartments. Single moms and their kids are being taken in by single dads and their kids even though they are not in a relationship together. There are a lot of unorthodox living arrangements these days, and I see them happening in record numbers.

My friends and I swap homeless people, letting them couch-surf around our social circle until they get back on their feet.

Where I live, besides the normal Unemployment and Homeless due to Forclosure, we have 1 out of every 5 people living on the streets normally. However, you *NEVER* see them unless you know where to look. Many of them fear LEOs, and even don't seek assistance out of fear of being reported to LEOs. They are runaway teenagers, or victims of physical and sexual abuse, yet they are resourceful enough to find places to stay far away from prying eyes, and they band together for protection. They aren't living on the streets or under bridges like the homeless of previous generations, but they are living in people's vacation homes during the off-season, or squatting in foreclosed homes, converting abandoned warehouses into makeshift underground homeless shelters, and finding creative ways to live off the grid and beneath notice.

The Homeless are out there. Have no mistake about it. Out of sight shouldn't be out of mind. Just like rats they are there, even if you don't visibly see them like those who have traditionally chosen homelessness as a lifestyle choice and live on street corners begging for spare change.

Most people worked before to survive and will move or whatever is necessary to survive again. Professional homeless have no desire to work they prefer living day to day on handouts and sleeping wherever they feel. We have had to chase many out of a park we just purchased. Tons of trash 28 semi loads so far but 3-4 more and it'll be clean and beautiful again

reply to post by fraterormus

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very insightful would give you a dozen stars if I could...

But let me ask what about those former eat only prepackaged foods keep up with the Jone's arch typical middle class soccer mom's what they they do? where did they go? cant very well reheat their frozen weight watchers entree over a camp fire right? surely not all of them moved in with mom and dad or even a kind stranger

The homeless Middle Class due to Foreclosure doesn't necessarily mean they are also Unemployed. Employers and Coworkers lend a helping hand where they can. I have a friend who is a SysAdmin who lost her house to Foreclosure after her Property Taxes increased 300% and her APR increased to almost 10%. She was expecting with child when she was Foreclosed on. Although she was on Maternity Leave at her work, her Employer actually let her move in to one of his multiple homes.

The Middle Class is well networked, socially and professionally. They have a lot of resources with which they can resort to.

Especially armed with Craigslist and Social Networking Sites, a Middle Class Soccer Mom can find someone willing to help them out.

I have another friend who became homeless and now house-sits for the Upper Class while they are on Holiday. She always has a place to stay and hasn't had to pay rent for over a year now.

My gf's parents have taken in four of her siblings' families into their 6 bedroom house, being a total of 5 families living under one roof.

My next-door neighbors are 4 single moms living together in one house. Two of them work while the other two tend the house and the children. The mom that owns the house is not only having half the mortgage paid by the other working mother, but she no longer has to keep house and pay for the outrageously rising costs of Child Care, so for her it is a Win/Win situation even though it is cramped living in a single-family dwelling.

Soccer Moms have alternatives, although they might seem like foreign concepts to their traditional Nuclear Households and previous lifestyle of keeping up with the Smiths and Jones. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and when it comes to living on the streets or being creative, they'll chose to get creative...even shaking up with a complete stranger over taking their kids to a shelter.

Even when my daughter and I were almost homeless when I was unemployed I found assistance in the last place I would have ever expected...a professional Stripper who read my MySpace Blog felt for my plight and sent us money at the 11th Hour that kept us off the street! I never asked for help, but I certainly wasn't too proud to accept a gift from a stranger. I am eternally grateful, and I'll never think poorly about Strippers after being the recipient of their generosity.

Here in southern Florida we have a lot of squatters. Families that just stay.
Police are not putting them out on the street anymore. I don't know if this is common throughout the country ? Its getting hard for them just to keep the utilities on ! An aerial view of our area shows many pools not kept up and green !
I've heard, but do not know as fact, that an empty house can cost the owner up to ten times the cost to insure as does an occupied home.
I've stumbled upon many small camps while walking my dog ,nothing you
would notice from the street !

How about the pre-meltdown homeless numbers were inflated? I'm not saying that there were not homeless people, just that the governments definition of homeless wasn't what people thought it was. My Mother lives with me. She's on Social Security disability and has to file paperwork through the State to suppliment her medical benefits. When the paperwork was being filled out I was suprised that there were more questions about me and my finances than her. When it came to our housing status, even though the lease is in my name and I pay the bills the State considers me to be a "homeless veteran" because it fits one of their check boxes. As I said, inflated numbers. Now with the so called meltdown those numbers are becoming realistic, but, don't go up because of the previously built-in inflation.

reply to post by praxis

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hahahahahaha YES

Yeah, I agree. Something out there is hiding something pretty big. Whether it's a civilization inside the earth, or folks are getting kidnapped, or abducted by aliens, you must ask... where are all the homeless folks in the recession?

I mean, if it's that bad, there should be madd hunnies out on the street, just sitting there, begging, "MegaCurious, please, pretty please..."

I think they all went to California.

YouTube Link

California is super cool to the homeless.

my wife and i have many friends where their kids have moved back in with them. these are kids who have a college degree, but the only job they can find is part time. that is the 800-pound gorilla in the room...jobs...and good paying ones. this next generation is going to be worse off then mine. but the poor and homeless are expanding to the point, that even family or friends can't help them, because they are to busy helping themselves. the MSM won't show this, but it is out there in mass.

I have to question how many of those college degrees are for something marketable? I went back to college at age 37 for engineering. In many of my classes there were students with majors in subjects like Romance Languages, Music and English Literature. Not exactly career choices that would leave them competative in recession job market.


There was one Teaching Assistant working on a Master's Degree in Romance Languages, who used to give me a rough time about my having served in the military and my choice in careers. I swore that I never wanted to see that guy again after I graduated. I have since changed my mind. I look forward to seeing him every morning.............................when he hands me my bagel and coffee at the drive-thru. It makes the six year struggle to get my degree worth every minute of it.

[edit on 3-11-2009 by JIMC5499]

All I can add to this is home ownership as at a 37 year low... we now have the most vacancies since the 1980's We might find on Friday unemployment topped 10% U-3, (the hidden numbers would suggest closer to a quarter of our population)

The way I see it is these people are going somewhere and there is a limit to how many we can absorb before it gets nasty.

You're quite optimistic about your "marketability". I know that I was too back in college. Let's hope that they don't charge you much for school, because if they do then you'll have fun finding that magical "Engineering" job that pays that "magic number" in a recession to pay it back. My bachelors in Computer Engineering didn't get me the $60,000-$80,000 grand that the hearsay was saying it would, and my family lost interest in me Not to mention the hunnies... but that's something else, too.

We're all out here in the woods, living on all your caches and in your summer homes...wishing the SHTF so we can get all yall's BOBs and guns. Wish it'd hurry up...

Do you still see the guy with the German shepherd that wears dog shoes (booties)?

Just wondering if he is still on the streets.

How many people do you think are living in the tunnels now?

I think many of the newly homeless are probably in jail.

They do not know the ropes.
They are too proud to beg or panhandle.
If they can't get gov. money or charity....(or even if they do) ...many have been caught shoplifting in grocery stores and many are getting popped for that.

Also, if they hang out in public places like shopping centers they are now being given "trespass warnings" because the businesses do not want them there.

One case I know of was picked up for violating a trespass warning by coming onto the property of a large shopping center and was taken to jail. Now, as a condition of being released from jail this person must pay a stiff fee for parole officer every month. So, now the homeless, jobless person is required to support our stinking system. How fair is that?

If the person does not come up with parole money every month...it's back to jail.

Doesn't that essentially make it a debtor's prison?

this is a good question. I grew up here in nyc, which was a mecca for the homeless in the 70's and 80's. now, it's rare to find someone sleeping on the street, well, not rare, but nowhere near as frequent as used to be. mayor guilliani started having them all arrested, or made the environment hostile towards them, which caused them to leave. or get arrested.

Foreclosure doesn't mean they are totally broke. Some have pensions. They just can't keep up with the mortgages. But the foreclosure issue is only part of the problem. What about people who live in apartments they can't afford any more. I would say it is as likely that as many people who can't afford a mortgage any more can't afford previous rent. Some will downsize like some of the mortgage people In other words it's probably more like a percent of 40 million or so that should be ending up on the streets. Perhaps it's where I live, but I do not see homeless people in any numbers.

10% unemployment out of what percent of the population that is not too young or completely retired. What would that number be? Then what percent should be homeless + the missing people.

I am officially homeless, several people I know are homeless. You may wonder how it is I'm on ATS if I'm "homeless." Well, I do get unemployment payments, it is just not enough to support a whole family. I ship in for rent at relatives house and they are living check to check having lost their job as well. We are all a bunch of homeless people living in one household trying to hold it all together.

This is where most of us are. My neighbor down the road has (6) cars in the driveway and two tents in the backyard. Other neighbor has a mother in law living with them do to a lay off. The old lady down the road just had her kids move back home after losing their job. Some people are finding part-time work for low wages and scraping by. Gardens are springing up this summer throughout my neighborhood. Omish people are starting to sell out of all their produce. The Omish guy that has a stand down the road sold all of his garden this year. People know it's cheaper through him than at the store.

hell. do you not know?

death to the poor?