Knowing this, and knowing how difficult it is to find affordable housing in Nashville even when one is employed full-time at a minimum wage (or slightly above) job, we need camps that provide refuge, safety and opportunity for those who have nowhere else to go.
It isn't hard to do and there are a number of cities where Tent Cities are officially established, so Nashville won't have to reinvent the wheel here.
Councilwoman Luvenia Butler, in conjunction with MDHA's Clifton Harris, are working now on setting up public hearings to discuss the feasibility and establishment of a Tent City somewhere in the city. On a parallel path is a private group that is hoping to procure a fairly large piece of land close to the downtown area that is basically undevelopable and can be turned into a private campground. It may turn out somewhere down the road that these two entities join together to pool resources, but frankly having more than one "tent city" to choose from is a good thing, since one may have rules and restrictions that either keep someone out or are so stringent that some will simply not want to set up their camp there.
U.S. markets fall, tent cities rise
Alexandra Shimo.
Maclean's 121.39 (Oct 6, 2008): p51(1).
Hoovervilles sprang up across the U.S. in the 1930s, built out of cloth, boxwood, cardboard or scraps of metal and named after Herbert Hoover and his policies during the Great Depression. And while there are no such settlements named after George W. Bush's administration,
A number of American centres have documented the problem, including Baltimore, Reno, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Fresno and Seattle. One of the larger settlements is in Ontario, Calif., about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles. There, about 140 people live in tents, motorhomes, trucks and cars, next to the Los Angeles International Airport. The population numbered about 400 in Match, but authorities decided the settlement was too large and unmanageable and ejected about half of the residents, towing away vehicles and motorhomes.
Unlike many urban centres with tent cities, Ontario has tried to support the inhabitants, investing $3 million to deal with the homeless. Church groups donate tents, tarps and clothing, and distribute packaged food and bottled water. Local authorities have installed water taps, portable showers and toilets (although they tend to topple and spill in high winds). Authorities have even hired veterinarians to spray and neuter people's dogs, although some residents have complained that similar medical care is not available for their human owners. At night, people kept warm by burning garbage. City agencies don't expect these modern day shantytowns to disappear any rime soon: few jobs, mounting foreclosures and higher gas and food bills means homelessness in the U.S. is on the rise.
