Why are there so many homeless and junkies in the Pacific Northwest? (2013, to live in)
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I think it's partially the endemic poverty and mental illness of the region and also people here don't agree with putting them away or keeping them out of sight. Also the climate here is relatively mild in the winter time compared to most of the country so many homeless people come here to prevent freezing to death.
I can attest that we saw a lot of "new people" moving in just as the recession hit, and as jobs have come back, the numbers of people who followed kept going higher. That number, inevitably, includes people who live on the margins of society.
As Portland and Seattle have grown, ALL of the populations have grown ... including the homeless.
Last edited by amaiunmei; 07-06-2014 at 08:54 PM..
Reason: verb-subject agreement
This is not a problem exclusive to the PNW. They're in all major West Coast cities (and many East Coast, too). Ever been to SF or LA?
A general search on Wikipedia will give you some estimations.
In its January 2013 census, Los Angeles County counted 39,463 people sleeping on the street or in homeless shelters. When including persons sleeping on private property with permission to stay no more than 90 days, the estimated number of homeless in Los Angeles County is 57,737.
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, the homeless population of New York rose to an all-time high in 2011. A reported 113,552 people slept in the city's emergency shelters last year, including over 40,000 children; marking an 8 percent increase from the previous year and a 37 percent increase from 2002.
San Francisco's homeless population has been estimated at 10,000 people.
Seattle's homeless population is estimated at 8,000.
Last time I was in Portland, I was appalled. The streets were littered in homeless. It seemed like a bum hung around every single street corner.
Last edited by GatsbyGatz; 07-07-2014 at 03:19 AM..
It's well documented that the PCN and Upper West Coast (San Francisco) has been a respite for junkies / drug users and the homeless for quite some time. In the 60's, San Francisco and Berkeley became havens for hippies and those with bohemian roots / ideology. Over the years, as Silicon Valley grew and expanded and rents skyrocketed, some of these people then infiltrated Portland and Seattle and established communities there. Drug addiction is directly proportionate to homelessness. Furthermore, as more and more people are settling in the PCN, rents have increased exponentially, driving people to live on the streets. It's a sad fact that 35% of the homeless in Portland actually have jobs, but are unable to afford rent.
People in West Coast cities can be more understanding and humane towards those down on their luck , and they can be blindly enabling to people who choose not to live in reality. Anyone who's grown up familiar with the West Coast Punk/Hardcore/Indie culture knows many of the legions of teenage/twentysomething homeless kids in San Francisco and Portland are middle class offspring on an extended bohemian tour with more excuses than common sense. Many of the rest of the West Coast homeless are people who truly have poor mental health, addiction, or had a traumatic childhood and are there for the non-lethal weather. A good number of homeless from the PNW ride the trains down to PHX for the winter.
The real question is how do people live there without sun? You couldn't pay this Mississippian to relocate there!
No one wants you to move there
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