Mom forced to live in car with dogs

[Debau2005]

"Harvey was forced into homelessness earlier this year after being laid off. She said that three-quarters of her income went to paying rent in Santa Barbara, where the median house in the scenic, oceanfront city costs more than $1 million. She lost her condo two months ago and had little savings as backup."


I am speechless! I am so horrified by this and ashamed. My husband lost his job yesterday, and we currently have 2 house payments. We are getting his ready to either sell or rent. We just got married. I have been so consumed with the other house, that I haven't thought about the people with none.

This is one of those times that I wish I had the means to rent to someone like Barbara Harvey.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/19/homeless.mom/index.html

The more I read and see, the more I am stunned by the indifference of the Republicans, conservatives, and this administration!

[Subdivisions]

1. When I first saw that, it saddened me to tears. These are

challenging times. I hope for all the best for those women in that parking lot and everyone who is struggling to get to work and to eat and pay bills.

[dkf]

2. This is one of the reasons we need the housing bubble to burst.

People can't afford what is out there anymore.

If housing was reasonable, this woman may not be homeless.

I'm sorry to hear about your hubby. I hope everything turns out ok.

[Indenturedebtor]

37. When the housing bubble bursts many people lose everything

You're just trading one for the other.

[here_is_to_hope]

3. Hitting the 'middle class' alright...

Back in College, I ran out of money to pay rent or anything else really but I was so near Graduation I didnt care. I lived in my van next to UCLA's Powell Library, eating Spaghettio's out of a can.
I didnt mind, it was an adventure, a small inconvenience...compared to what these women are going through!
Shame on this country.

[qanda]

4. Oh my!

That is so terribly sad for the woman and the dogs. None of them deserve living like that. I feel terrible about their situation. I'm sorry to hear about your circumstances also-- things are rough all around. My best to you and yours.

[aikoaiko]

5. Where the hell are her three grown children?

Lots of people hit hard times, but that is what family are for when you have them.

[Debau2005]

10. I thought the same thing

The article noted her daughter was living with friend's but didn't mention the other 2. I couldn't sleep at night if my mother was sleeping in her car.

[Sal Minella]

32. My guess is, she doesn't want the kids to know.

If I were in such straits, I would go to great lengths to keep my adult children from finding out, until after it was all over and things were better.

[aikoaiko]

69. You don't think she wants her kids to know, but she'll do CNN?

:shrug:

[leftynyc]

77. If my parents did that to me I would

be royally pissed off. After all they've done for me, I would do anything to help them out. Me and my two cats would take them in in a heartbeat.

[laylah]

68. The article stated

her other children live overseas.

[aikoaiko]

71. Well, hopefully they get CNN and will send her a ticket.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

30. In the article

it says one is living with friends, she is 19. It didn't mention the other two.

It is very depressing. It is scary too since it makes one realize how close we all are to such horrible circumstances.

[sandnsea]

57. It says they live overseas n/t

[MilesColtrane]

65. 19 year old living with friends...

The article said the other two are overseas.

Maybe in Iraq?

[4_TN_TITANS]

78. Family relations like you and I enjoy

don't happen for everyone. In my opinion, it reflects more on her than her kids, the fact that they aren't running to help her.

[catgirl]

6. It's time for people to open up their homes to these people

This is unacceptable.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slackmaster]

14. I have a room I can rent out cheap, but can't accept any pets

My cats would be very mad.

[A HERETIC I AM]

43. You first. n/t

[tuckessee]

44. How many are currently residing with you? n/t

[hiaasenrocks]

51. I can guess!

But I'll wait for her answer. ;)

[tpsbmam]

74. I have friends who are on the brink.....

One is an old, dear friend (friends for about 20 years). I've told her and her daughter to move in whenever they want -- now or next year. I have other friends/neighbors who are in real trouble. I simply can't imagine taking in that family with 3 little children -- there just isn't enough room (and, frankly, we'd drive each other bat-shit crazy). I'll be surprised if they don't end up in foreclosure. But, if push comes to shove and it comes down to living in a car, being homeless or squeezing in here, we'll figure it out. I can't help everyone, but I can help friends I love. It sort of has to be first come, first serve -- it's the best I can do. Hell, my old friend can share my bedroom with me if all end up needing a place to live.

[bdamomma]

7. this is shameful, we are the victims of this filthy administration.

he is assaulting us all.

[devilgrrl]

9. It's interesting that this kind of thing seems to plague Republican run administrations

Rising housing and utility costs, job cuts, lowered wages, etc. the list goes on.... It's the 80's all over again, only worse.

[slackmaster]

11. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who is homeless, but I wonder about the rest of the story

Whenever I see a tear-jerker story like this in the MSM I have to ask the tough questions.

How did she arrive at age 67 renting a condo in an expensive area and not having enough savings to last more than three months, after having been employed full-time for many years?

Why is this woman wasting her time working an $8 per hour job when she could be collecting $450 per week in state unemployment insurance and spending her work days looking for something better?

Would she be better off declaring herself as retired and cashing in on Social Security at this point?

Has she spoken with a financial planner about her situation?

Santa Barbara and nearby towns like Carpinteria are beautiful places to live, but there are other decent areas within 20 minutes' drive of there where housing is far less expensive. You sacrifice an ocean view for the ability to save SOMETHING in case you lose your job. I could live in La Jolla if it was really important to me, but I have chosen to live inland and save money for the future instead. If I go to a corner of my back yard and stand on tip-toes I can even see the ocean.

Spending 3/4 of your income on housing when there are less expensive options sounds like poor planning to me. Housing in Southern California has not always been as unaffordable as it is now. Maybe there has been a bit of a problem with misplaced priorities in this case. Or maybe she's been victimized by health issues, an abusive male, etc. We just don't know because all CNN has told us is about a nice lady who lost her job and now lives with two cute dogs in an SUV near the beach.

I inevitably get beaten up on DU for mentioning that some people who have lost homes have made bad decisions along the way, but this sure sounds like such a case.

[IndyOp]

16. When I read posts like yours I just try to remind myself that I should be doing a better job myself

in saving money and becoming more knowledgeable about my options if something did happen to my income. I think a lot of people - including me - fall into a trap of planning with our current incomes in mind without thinking about what would happen if that income were cut in half or more. My parents were much better at long-term planning I think.

I did sell my 4-bedroom 2-bath house and moved into half as much house for almost half as much mortgage so I have more flexibility now in case something bad happens, but I still tend to spend my entire salary -- for repairs on my 1920 house -- or donations to good causes.

[slackmaster]

18. I'm basically stuck in a house that's bigger than a divorced empty-nester needs

But with my equiity position, low property tax locked in, and the market as it is now, downsizing would be foolish. It seems wasteful to me having one person live in a 4-bedroom house, but other than renting out rooms (which I really do not want to do), there isn't really anything I can do about it.

I have a steady job but haven't seen a pay increase in four years. Except for housing, my cost keep rising. At this moment my checking and liquid savings accounts are literally in single digits. I'm just waiting for payday, which is Friday, or my $600 "stimulus" check to arrive, whichever happens first.

I have good retirement savings as the result of socking away as much as I can for the last 25 years, but one catastrophe could wipe it all out. I plan to have the house paid off in about 10 years, but health insurance looks like a much bigger issue to me now.

[squawk7700]

46. You're being smart...adding value and building equity. Renters can't do that.

Not criticizing renters, just stating the obvious. :-)

[DelScorchoSr]

47. THANK YOU!

That's what I meant by my posts, but apparently people are not perceiving them the way they were intended.

[Warpy]

22. First, she is 67. Her job undoubtedly went to a younger

and cheaper body. Jobs for people over 50 are few and far between. Over 65? Unless you own the company or have been elected to something, forget it.

Second, she is collecting social security, but try living on it in California....or New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, northern Virginia...

I think the real problem is the shock and disbelief. She just didn't believe that someone of substance, a homeowner with a solid work record, would simply be allowed to hit the street like a sack of garbage. That's a luxury those of us who have already been there don't have and why we save. She just didn't realize that she was a worker bee, expendable when the hive no longer needed her.

Once she gets over the shock, she just might realize that what she needs to do is get the hell out of California, or at least out of coastal California, and find a place where she can work a low wage part time job and afford a small apartment on the combination of a low wage and social security.

I, too, wonder where her two sons are and just why there is no room for Mom and no financial help to get her back on her feet.

In the meantime, I hope her condo stays on the market for the next 20 years. Greedy bastards should never have thrown her out!

[slackmaster]

61. I work in the same industry - Her job was probably lost, she was not replaced

I got the impression she was renting her condo in Santa Barbara, and lost it due to non-payment of rent.

[Warpy]

66. Either that, or the condo owners were foreclosed.

Who knows? All we know from this story is that a very solid citizen has been dumped on the streets.

We also know she isn't the first and she is far from the last.

[timtom]

25. Some years ago, 20/20 did a piece on homelessness.

There was a woman, in her mid-sixties, whose husband had passed away in the last year. They lived in a condo in Manhattan, commensurate with his income. She had never worked. She was trained for nothing. And she ended up homeless in a few short months. A street person.

Reversals of fortune are for everyone! One may be a cagey and clever planner, but you can never peer around those corners in space and time.

[catgirl]

26. It's called living from paycheck to paycheck

and the rising costs of food, gas, etc.

[El Pinko]

33. If you read the story, amybe you'd see why

First off, she was a renter, and rental housing has been extremely unaffordable for at least a decade almost anywhere in CA including inland areas. Last I checked, even dump apartments in far-inland working-class burbs like El Cajon were going in the $1200-1500 range. How is that affordable? Maybe her rent was jacked up on her. Maybe she couldn't find work. I have no idea what her situation is, but having experienced the nightmare of overpriced CA housing firsthand, my first instinct is not to denounce her for poor choices.

When was the last time you shopped rental housing? And really, if you can see the water, even on tiptoes, that's hardly inland.

[slackmaster]

64. Yes it's expensive everywhere but I still say living in Santa Barbara is a luxury

...Maybe her rent was jacked up on her. Maybe she couldn't find work. I have no idea what her situation is, but having experienced the nightmare of overpriced CA housing firsthand, my first instinct is not to denounce her for poor choices....

I do not feel I denounced her. I left the door open to the possibility that she is blameless. I blame CNN for giving us an incomplete picture. As you say, we do not know what actually happened.

I'm trying to imagine what her situation would seem like from the perspective of someone who is homeless somewhere else that is not so pleasant. She could be a lot worse off.

When was the last time you shopped rental housing?

1988. I rented a 900-square-foot house for $600 per month. Over the next six years it got raised to $700. Things started getting insane years later.

And really, if you can see the water, even on tiptoes, that's hardly inland.

I'm about 270 feet above mean sea level. If all the world's ice caps and glaciers melt, I'll be almost on the beach.

[IndyOp]

12. Seriously - So long as I get to keep my dogs, I'd rather sleep in the car with my dogs

than have to give up the dogs to sleep in a homeless shelter, even a nice one with single-room apartments that you could use as a temporary residence. :(

[slackmaster]

13. I feel the same way about my cats

:hi:

[DelScorchoSr]

15. And if you get hungry enough, they can be food

seriously, people come first.

[IndyOp]

17. People do come first and my personal sense of security & joy & hope

for the future would be improved by my choosing to stay with my dogs if at all possible. So, at most, I am putting my pets ahead of some other types of comforts that I would rather do without to keep my pets. I am not putting my pets ahead of any other person's needs.

I don't appreciate your scolding me about what I should prioritize -- priorities can differ between people without one person being bad and another being good. If you would prefer to give up your pets to have more secure housing then that is an okay choice for you.

[catgirl]

28. :-)

[DelScorchoSr]

50. I'm not scolding you...

I'm just saying that I would eat my pets if I were hungry enough.

[catgirl]

27. You're trying too hard- you're see-through

[Debau2005]

34. Please go away!

I would not use my pet for food. And I doubt most people would. All you have to do is look at the statistics of the people in hurricane paths that don't leave because they can't take their pets, to understand the attachment.

[DelScorchoSr]

53. Would I risk my life to save my child?

YES


Would I risk my life to save my dog?

NO




Not that I don't understand peoples affinity for their pets.

[LanternWaste]

42. Or, as you stated up thread

"seriously, people come first."

Or, as you stated up thread, only the "deserving" people come first... yes?

[DelScorchoSr]

52. People come first over animals

is what I am saying.

[LanternWaste]

56. Except for those whom...

Except for those whom you believe to be less "deserving" as you posted previously.

Hard for me to understand how in one sentence a person can come first, but in another sentence, the person is not qualified for sympathy.

But again, as I myself have little confidence in your ability to determine who is, or is not worthy of sympathy or expressions of sorrow (as we've seen little evidence of that other than your own self-advertisements of it), I must admit that I have even less confidence in your ability to prioritize who or what "comes first".

[DelScorchoSr]

60. I deal with sympathy the same way I deal with respect

it's not blindly given.

[panAmerican]

19. 3 grown children, and she's living in her SUV?

If all 4 were making $8 apiece, that would be $66,650 for the year, excluding overtime. That's plenty to afford an apartment, although they may have to settle for cramped quarters, and live outside of pricey Santa Barbara.

[libodem]

20. These people are not even welfare mothers

they must be 'lowlifes' to have lost a job or a home, huh. I'll bet they think that all the people at ENRON who lost their jobs and pensions are lowlife scum. The nerve of hurricane Katrina victims to complain about losing their homes, jobs, and property. Any way my point (through all this loose association) the Republicans seem to believe that if a person needs anybody to give them a hand -up they are morally bankrupt wastrels. When I hear Glenn Beck's sound byte on the radio it's about how the government should be so small that no one would expect any protection or common welfare because people can take care of themselves. What does that louse think of NO-Bid contracts on a cost plus basis? Corporate welfare is another thing. That's OK with these Pukes cuz somebody's making money for themselves. I hate how they think.

[blindpig]

21. Funny how it takes this happening to the owner of a $1M home

for it to get on the radar. I suppose if it had been a $50K home it wouldn't have been newsworthy. And never mind those who don't have a home, have not had one for years, not enough drama to sell advertising?

[El Pinko]

24. She didn't own a million dollar home.

She rented a condo.

The article said that a MEDIAN HOME in SB costs $1M.

[blindpig]

38. I stand corrected

Still, an inhabitant of a very toney district, she weren't from inner city LA.

[El Pinko]

39. Santa Barbara is not a "district" It is a town, quite far from LA.

People seem to have this notion that SB is a wealthy LA suburb. It's not.

It's 90 miles west of LA, and the median household income is only $47K.

13% of the population live below the poverty line.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara%2C_California

[blindpig]

40. well

How does a median household income of $47K jibe with $1M median house prices? Something screwy here, or maybe it's just California.

[El Pinko]

41. It is screwy. Speculation has driven the cost of a home way beyond reach...

...of the typical family.

When I lived in SF, the news said that only 10% of SF Bay Area families could afford to buy the median bay area house.

This is where the subprime and liar loans came in. We were told that if we didn't take out a crazy loan to buy a crazy-expensive house, we would be "priced out forever", and we were assured that 15% annual appreciation gueranteed a profit later on. So many millions of people bought into the hype that the median price of a CA home doubled between 2000 and 2006.

It was just California, but by the mid-2000s, it had spread to Florida, Las Vegas, DC metro and Phoenix.

The prices have come down some, but they are still way out of line with incomes. But sellers understandably do not want to sell their homes for what they're REALLY worth.

[katty]

54. no, it's not, it is a tourist town, college town competing with LA

for biz and tourista $$$--old/new $$ live in the hills above town.

[slackmaster]

70. I know a couple who lived there as poor people for several years

In Goleta. It was very nice, but they could not save any money at all.

[El Pinko]

23. And yet congress and the fed seek to prop up ridiculously high housing prices...

Ill-advised bailouts aside, I had a similar experience living in San Francisco - paying more than half my income to live in a basement hovel.

California is especially bad thanks in part to Proposition 13, a law that basically transfers huge amounts of wealth from renters and young people to older people who own homes.

It locks in low property taxes for people who have been there forever and hits recent home buyers with much higher taxes, thus discouraging people from ever moving without a the incentive of ever-rising prices.

California MUST repeal Prop 13 and tax equal houses at equal rates if it is ever to be a truly progressive state. There should also be rent control in all the sizable cities (there is now an effort to strike down rent control in cities like SF).

My heart goes out to this poor woman. If only she got out of California before it was too late. As much as I love what California once was, I'm glad I got the hell out of there.

[Neshanic]

29. Once in everyone's life, they should be put in a situation of trying to find a place to live in SB.

Especially with a dog.

My experience was the most bizzare and insane apartment hunting episode I have ever been in. Was offered a very good job. The landlords, if you can loosely call them that are a breed of an exotic type of insanity, pompousness, and selectivity.

I really feel sorry for that poor woman. She though is in the worst place on the planet earth for getting an apartment, and being criminal in having not one but TWO dogs.

Go to Craigs List and see the some of the most insane things required to get an "apartment" there.

[susankh4]

31. Good for her that she did not abandon her family...

of fourleggeds!

I could totally see myself doing this if push came to shove.

[Beacool]

35. Terrible story!!!

My first question would be why is she not staying with one of her adult children? I see that she has a 19 year old daughter, but what about her other 2 kids? Geez, if my mother was homeless I would certainly open my doors to her even if I had to sleep on the couch or get a cot. I don't get it.

As for the housing problem, it's absolutely shameful that in the wealthiest country in the world we have so many homeless people.

In my upscale town of Hoboken, NJ (home to senator Menendez and governor Corzine), my church is the only one that offers lunch to the homeless. My retired neighbor volunteers with the lunch program and has told me that we went from an average of 30 people to over 75 who come on a daily basis. Some are not homeless, but are the working poor (such as a crossing guard who comes daily).

The problem is compounded because in tough times donations of money and food diminish while the number of people needing to be fed grows. Therefore, more of the burden is put on the church.

[Rosemary2205]

36. Where are her kids, her friends ???

When my husband and I had the car accident in 2000 we really lucked on in that my sister's family was looking to get the heck out of Michigan and already had their house up for sale. They moved into my house in Atlanta for 5 years while hubby and I "recovered" - it was a touchy situation emotionally on some days, but in the end we were all so much closer and and financially so much better off.

An older lady I know about was on a very small income, her husband died a year ago and then she broke a hip. They had no kids and both her siblings had no kids so there's really no family to rely on. However, as a couple, they were very active in the community in various ways and sure enough stepped forward and make space in her home for the older lady.

The neice of my cousin (can't figure out the word for neice in relation to me) is in her 30's with 2 kids. Divorced. College degree. Lost her job and had to take on that pays about half. A friend in similar circumstances. They moved in together a year ago and now the kids feel like they have "2 moms". Of course the arrangement has it's moments but overall it seems to be working out wonderful.

I really feel for someone like the woman in the story who isn't close enough to her kids, nor has any friends to rely on for help for a little while until she gets back on her feet.

And yes, something needs to be done about keeping decent jobs in the USA.

[katty]

45. more recession fallout,more of this to come...downsize as

much as possible. bush's america: pottersville, u.s.a

[OneBlueSky]

48. what's REALLY depressing about this story is that there's actually an organized program . . .

that provides space for people living in their cars! . . . unbelievable . . .

to clarify . . . I think it's great that such a program exists, and kudos to those providing the service . . . it's the fact that such a program is even necessary that's so depressing . . .

[katty]

49. well, that's what happened in the 1930's depression, tent cities

were set up all over america, nyc central park, etal....it's happening again because there is a need, a need that will grow exponentially across the country--there is no magic bullet.

[Mountainman]

84. In the 30's or the "dust bowl days", migrants moved to the central valley of CA to do farm labor.

They were dirt poor and were not wanted in towns or their children were not wanted in schools. They lived in migrant camps. They were constantly mistreated and kept down. The federal government, after people say Dorthea Lang's photos of the area, started to build sanitary facilities for the migrants to live in.

In fact this is all described in Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." The funny or sad thing was that the schools of Bakersfield CA, near where the story took place, banned the book from public schools.

[MilesColtrane]

67. Welcome to Bush's Ownership Society.

During his campaign he didn't happen to mention that he and his buddies were going to be the ones owning us.

[katty]

82. indeed--just a tiny deal point that was never mentioned!

[Taverner]

55. If this is what it takes to get the issue of poverty to the forefront

Then so be it

Poverty has been ignored ever since "Saint" Reagan said "War on poverty? We lost it. Next issue"

[NNN0LHI]

58. Costs me more than a thousand bucks for shots and heart-worm and flea meds every year

And thats not including food and treats. Thats all for just two small dogs and a cat. And if one or more of them gets sick and has to go in to the vet that figure goes up real fast. How is this woman caring for these dogs properly while living out of a car?

Don

[Liberal_in_LA]

59. Notice she's 67 with a 19yr old daughter? Another reason to rethink have kids so late in life

My opinion... having kids late in life prevents people from saving for retirement (they are still supporting kids). Doesn't mean I don't have sympathy for the lady.

[BuelahWitch]

62. "There but for the grace of God go I"

That's the way I feel about stories like this. It could happen to anyone. A major illness, loss of a job, hell even major car repairs if there's no other transportation available to you!
It's rough when you're alone and/or estranged from family. :cry:

[blindpig]

75. But 'the grace of God' has nothing to do with it.

Our hideously exploitative economic system has everything to do with it. THAT we can do something about, if we find the heart and will.

[BuelahWitch]

86. I don't think you understand the expression

But that's ok...

[taught_me_patience]

63. Time for her to make tough choices

and move to a city that is a bit more affordable. We all have to find ways to live within our means. Hell, I'd like to live in Newport Beach, but can't afford it with my current income.

[LynneSin]

72. I really feel for this woman but I also have to agree with what you said

I live in Wilmington and we're have a bit of a new housing boom because people who work in Philadelphia are finding our property taxes way more affordable than anything in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. And the nice thing is if you're in Philadelphia there's a Septa Train that does about 12 round trips to Philly area each day.

[Zuiderelle]

73. How can she move without a job? You don't know her circumstances enough to make that judgment.

Are you suggesting a 67-year-old woman pick up everything and move to a place she has no money, no family, no job prospects? It takes money to move. And then, there's no guarantee that she will find a job wherever she goes. If she has no job, she can't move. Makes more sense for her to do everything she can to find some job where she is now, where she might have connection or friends who could help, in order to get the money together to live somewhere. She can move inland and probably will, since really, she has no choice.

But to say that her solution is to move where it's more affordable is pretty simplistic.

[bobbolink]

76. It's time to stop blaming Republicans, and conservatives.

Waaay past time.

The stereotypes of homeless and poor people are posted here on DU all the time, by supposed "liberals" and "progressives".

Dems ignore the needs the same as the Republicans.

Continuing to misplace that blame just means the suffering continues.

We need to look at our own selves in this.

IN Colorado, it's the DEMS who keep tenants from having a law protecting us from uninhabitable conditions!

Yes, it's DEM landlords who keep that mess going. And don't think poor people don't know that.

We have to push the DEMS on this just as much... they are a logjam.

[XemaSab]

79. Hey, I just moved out of there

Rents were TOO freakin' high... 800 for a room? Yeah right.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

80. I just sent a donation to the agency running this program...

...New Beginnings Counseling Center.

http://www.newbeginningscounselingcenter.org/donate.html

I own my own business and right now am fighting for my life. On the other hand, I couldn't read a story like this and just sit on my hands. I called New Beginnings and told them this and they thanked me, saying "every donation helps."

:grouphug:

[Mountainman]

81. I live in the Santa Barbara area and work for county government which pays money to help the

homeless people.

I'm writing this before I read the replies because I'm sure a lot of them will blame the woman for living here.

But first, our county supervisors are very concerned with the homeless and the uninsured people who need treatment for alcohol and drugs and other medical needs.

They are currently using the county's reserves to fund programs even though tax revenue doesn't cover the costs.

The main reason this is happening to people here is because wealthy older people are moving here by the droves. They have boosted up the cost of living. It was not always a place where the money you make would not cover living expenses. People who have been here a long time may have a house that has tripled in value but don't dare to sell because they could never buy another one.

If you have lost your job here and do not have a marketable skill it is really difficult to get back on top.

[katty]

83. thanks for this input into this discussion

[earth mom]

85. There but for the grace of -whomever- go I. Yep, my hubby & I went through almost the same thing

12 years ago in Southern California when he was out of work for a few months. We were lucky because we were able to move in with my dad. However, we looked high and low for affordable housing in a safe area and there was NONE. We even looked at living out in the "boonies" and commuting, at a time when the gas was what, a THIRD of what it is now and we decided it was not affordable-even then. For us, the writing was on the wall. It was time to get the hell out of Southern California. So since we were sick of the overcrowding, the traffic, the smog, the gang bangers, the noise, the b.s. it was not that tough of a decision for us. Plus we've always wanted to live where there were less people, more trees and beauty and so we moved to the PNW. For us it's been a great decision, but it wasn't easy financially and we still struggled financially for a long time. But at least our rent was almost half of what it was in So. Cal. And when we bought our own house, our house cost half of what a comparable house would cost in Southern California at the time, before the price surge.

That said, people who live in Southern California can more easily be homeless because of the weather. The dryness and the mild temperatures make it easier than many other places in this country. Frankly, I see this happening all over the place down there because rents are sky high and wages are low if you are working class there. Hell, I was paying $500 for a one bedroom apartment in the early 1980s down there! It is CRAZY! A few years ago, even my SIL was homeless for awhile in Southern California and she refused to leave! We begged her to come and live with us here and we would help her get a place. But she turned us down flat! She would rather sleep in her car or on friends couches instead of move away from the place! It just blew my mind.

IMO, What is happening to the people of this country is criminal. And it's not gonna change. Not with the 3 corporatists that are running for office right now. So.....Fasten your seat belts people! :(

[fed_up_mother]

87. With "single family housing" laws and deed restrictions

I couldn't rent a room to anyone even if I wanted to.

Ridiculous, huh?