New Orleans' homeless rate swells to 1 in 25

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

NEW ORLEANS — The homeless population of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina has reached unprecedented levels for a U.S. city: one in 25 residents.

An estimated 12,000 homeless accounts for 4% of New Orleans' estimated population of 302,000, according to the homeless advocacy group UNITY of Greater New Orleans. The number is nearly double the pre-Katrina homeless count, the group says.

The New Orleans' rate is more than four times that of most U.S. cities, which have homeless populations of under 1%, said Michael Stoops, executive director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless. The cities with homeless rates closest to that of New Orleans are Atlanta (1.4%) and Washington (0.95%), he said.

A USA TODAY 2005 survey of 460 localities showed one in 400 Americans on average were homeless.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-16-neworleans-homeless-rate_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[marmar]

1. And we're a developed nation, right?

What a f**king disgrace!!! :argh:

[area51]

2. We're a barbaric nation,

with a YOYO "you're on your own" attitude. Same reason we don't have single-payer, and probably never will. Nazis know that homelessness and lack of healthcare are ways to get rid of people they consider undesireable.

[slackmaster]

6. Developed? When our national capital has one of the highest rates of violent crime?

And poverty?

[Doctor_J]

3. Mission accomplished

these people, because of their homelessness, will not be allowed to vote in November - a blue state turned red deliberately and maliciously. I really enjoyed Smirk's guitar riffs while NOLA died though.

[onehandle]

4. But I heard "This is working very well for them." The Lucky Duckies...

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of
evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost
everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to
Houston."

Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of
scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is
so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you
know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she
chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

[Gonnuts]

5. You aint seen nothing yet ...

I live in New Orleans and indeed the situation here is dire, but it's nothing compared to what's about to happen.

We're heading fast into a world-wide depression that we won't pull out of until a great many of us are no longer around to see it. I'd call myself an alarmist if there wasn't so much evidence to prove this true. We've been walking towards this cliff for some time, we now have one foot off the cliff and soon the other will follow. Our rapid fall will create change of such magnitude as to challenge the continued existence of our species.

Fact: even in the best of circumstances this planet can only sustain approximately 2 billion people with a descent quality of life. We currently have over 6 billion and growing rapidly.

Fact: continued rapid lose of natural resources, habitable land, pollution, climate change and mass extinction of species will bring the number of people who can survive to 500 million, that's if we don't blow ourselves into oblivion first.

What this means is 5.5 billion of us have to find somewhere else to go. The powers that be know this and they have laid plans to ensure that if anyone is going to survive the coming purge it will be them. This is not an "if" it will happen. It will happen no matter if the powers that be plan it or not. It's simply physics. We have breed ourselves into this problem. One could say that we literally fucked ourselves to death.

That time is upon us and I have no advice to anyone as to what they should do other than enjoy what you have because you won't have it for long.

[FalconsRule]

7. Interested as to where you found this "fact"

"Fact: even in the best of circumstances this planet can only sustain approximately 2 billion people with a descent quality of life. We currently have over 6 billion and growing rapidly."

[KamaAina]

9. A "descent quality of life", indeed!

Freudian Post o' The Year so far!!!

edit: caps

[TCJ70]

8. Also from the article...

"Many of the homeless are Katrina evacuees who returned to unaffordable rents or who slipped through the cracks of the federal system designed to provide temporary housing after the storm, said Mike Miller, UNITY's director of supportive housing placement.

More StoriesThere are also out-of-state workers who came for the post-Katrina rebuilding boom but lost their jobs, and mentally ill residents in need of services and medication, he said. Many of the city's outreach homeless centers and public mental health services have been closed since Katrina."

So people came back quickly to rents they couldn't afford (I'm guessing because they didn't have jobs) or to take advantage of speculative construction projects that fell through...and the cities safety nets for these people aren't being created fast enough for them. Bad decisions all around.

[KamaAina]

10. The sad thing is, among the litany of social ills New Orleans faced

long before the Federal Flood, homelessness wasn't really among them. In my time there ('89-'91), there was an oversupply of housing. People were appalled that I was paying $375 a month for a two-bedroom right on the streetcar line -- appalled that I was paying that much!

Post-K, rental housing has been hit the hardest. Homeowners were in a better position to rebuild. So rents for the few units available have soared to almost the level of other large cities, while the notoriously low wages haven't begun to keep pace. (I saw an ad for a position with a nonprofit agency paying in the low $30s -- for an attorney! )

Lucky New Orleans. They've hit the trifecta! :sarcasm:

[pitohui]

11. i knew tons of homeless people prior to katrina

it is not true that homelessness wasn't a genuine problem in new orleans, it has been a persistent problem of long standing, i can think of lots of people i knew who lost their homes for extended periods of time and in that category i can think of veterans and people in recovery (for instance one man was in recovery 7 years but could STILL only get a min wage job and this only thru some kind of gov't program) -- the point is, to assume that only substance abusers and schizophrenics were homeless in new orleans prior to the flood, it's quite wrong, the lack of jobs and opportunity meant that even if you were trying to lift yourself up then keeping an apt. could be difficult -- maybe i'm just from a bad background but to me homelessness has really been an ongoing thing in this area

the problem is with wages at $5 and change an hour for the min. wage even with rents of $200/month, people weren't able to pay them and also pay first/last deposits and also maintain a used car to get around in, the first time something went wrong (usually medical or a car breakdown) these folks would fall thru the cracks for some period of time

poverty and homelessness are deeply entrenched problems -- not that they've helped any by having so many housing units destroyed all in a day

the one good thing about the housing "oversupply" period in the 89-91 time frame you mention, it was easy to get "move in specials" of the first month rent's free, in fact, i got one of those specials since i had a move during that period, but otherwise rents were low because wages were low and jobs really non-existent, simply no opportunity there at all during the poppy bush economy unless you were a crack seller

but to say homelessness was not an issue prior to the storm is just flat-out wrong, people have been living on the edge for a very long time -- don't recall what the min wage was in 1990 but rents were in the $200-400/month range and at that price, people were frequently getting evicted for inability to pay, you saw it happen all around you or at least i did!

[KamaAina]

12. Not as much of an issue compared to other large cities

by that time, the homeless in NY and SF especially had basically become part of the urban landscape. You basically expected to see a few homeless people on your way to the subway or Muni stop.

Maybe I just wasn't hanging around in the right part of town to witness the problem firsthand?

[Quantess]

13. Shameful. (no text)