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by atlasunshrugged 1169 days ago
It's an all of the above issue, but housing prices surely have a role. Why do cities in the midwest and South have lower rates of homelessness? I don't think of Detroit as a paragon of "good families" but they have relatively lower rates of homelessness. Not to say I disagree with you overall, I think the U.S. often lacks strong family and community networks, but even with family there is a stronger push for independence here than I've seen in Europe where I lived for a few years. It's often quite positive -- people go and build startups, they move to new cities for work, older people stay active and remain in their houses... but it flips in the same way that you also have those same independent elderly people who end up in nursing homes far from family and family with kids away from parents who could be built in babysitters/childcare.

https://www.slowboring.com/p/homelessness-housing
1 comments
nebula8804 1169 days ago
>Why do cities in the midwest and South have lower rates of homelessness?

These are stereotypes but in the midwest you either are driven/make the trip to California or your freeze to death in the winter.

In the south, you either are driven/make the trip to california or you are eventually shot or locked up.

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rhino369 1169 days ago
There is some truth to weather. But also those areas are less likely to get queasy about cracking down on vagabonds. Police will hassle beggars in nice areas to keep respectable folks safe.

On the coasts that is now considered horrible tyranny. So you gotta deal with the downsides of that.

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atlasunshrugged 1169 days ago
That feels logical but I'm not sure it's true. Ex. freezing to death in winter - anecdotal but I visit my folks often and there are plenty of homeless people in Reno NV where you could absolutely freeze if you're exposed to the elements for too long.
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throwaway173738 1168 days ago
My spouse told me a story once about when she was living in her car in North Dakota and there was a winter storm and all she had was a blanket someone gave her. Long story short if you don’t have anything you can easily freeze to death in your sleep there.
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maxwell 1169 days ago
And the East Coast?
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