[notsurenymore]

I was briefly homeless this year (technically still am, but I lucked out and now bumming with an old friend) I was out of work for a long time and my lease ran up. I found myself stuck in one of the most overpriced (in terms of housing housing costs vs avg local pay) markets. There was no support for me.

Most of the other homeless people I met were older individuals. I didn’t talk to them much, but there were no open drug users (they were probably out there, but I stuck to there parts of town where they didn’t congregate, including staying away from shelters) and I assume most of them were on fixed income and simply got priced out of the market.

There’s no aid I was aware of. As you noticed, for many things, there’s massive waiting lists. Even the cheaper apartments out here have waiting by lists, and when I looked at the price to rent just a room, I was floored. People were often charging more to live in a room out of their house than you would pay for a low end apartment. And they still wanted first/last/security/credit check/background check etc.

I’m still not sure if I’m going to make it out. I’d have to find work that’s going to pay enough for me to make it past the jump, and that’s looking less likely by the day. I’ve thought about just saying screw it, and moving to a cheaper area, but then I’m in the same position, in a foreign environment where I know nobody and have no network.

I was speaking to my old neighbor a couple months before my lease was up about the economic situation. I was shocked when she told me that back in 08, her landlord actually lowered rents.