I've spent the majority of my adult years poor — only the past few not.
My current community is a dozen identical duplexes primarily housing working class singles. We all rent. It's fairly easy to "temporarily" tie in to other units' utilities, whether power or water... it was only this past summer that I've had to put a lock on our utility closet (various "misunderstandings").
Beginning summer 2024 a shanty-town started establishing itself just the next block over (just outside city limits)... which is worrysome but only for the winter fire risk (seem like mostly down-on-luck working-types).
The previous summer there were a couple months of heavy car repo activity... us commoners are still hanging on, but I fear we won't remain not poorer for too much longer.
I visited my Canadian home towns for the first time in 3 years. I lived in Germany for 10 years. Both have a population of roughly 60,000 people.
For the first time, both have a visible, noticeable homeless population. There are homeless encampments in at least one. I have also noticed other encampments well outside of Quebec city and Montreal.
In Berlin, the homeless population has also exploded, and is expected to get much worse. My friends in the US report similar changes.
Things are getting significantly worse all over, it seems.
My personal thoughts on noticeability of homeless populations is that the current iterations of cheap "check out" drug are mostly ones which make you dissociate.
Therefore youre not left really caring about how you're being perceived, so instead of hiding away from society you splay out on the curb like a zombie.
They're not noticeable in that sense. There is just a homeless population where there was not before, and the existing hotspots have spread from a small street to a block or an area. There just seems to be more homeless people. The official statistics in Berlin support that. I have not looked at other cities.
One decade+ member of our small rental community is about to become homeless, on account of the way he chooses to live (messily, against city codes, with multiple yard vehicles, ignoring landlord/inspector).
Two years ago I think he still would have cared, perhaps even tried; but that spark (of life) is just gone.
I've spent the majority of my adult years poor — only the past few not.
My current community is a dozen identical duplexes primarily housing working class singles. We all rent. It's fairly easy to "temporarily" tie in to other units' utilities, whether power or water... it was only this past summer that I've had to put a lock on our utility closet (various "misunderstandings").
Beginning summer 2024 a shanty-town started establishing itself just the next block over (just outside city limits)... which is worrysome but only for the winter fire risk (seem like mostly down-on-luck working-types).
The previous summer there were a couple months of heavy car repo activity... us commoners are still hanging on, but I fear we won't remain not poorer for too much longer.
I visited my Canadian home towns for the first time in 3 years. I lived in Germany for 10 years. Both have a population of roughly 60,000 people.
For the first time, both have a visible, noticeable homeless population. There are homeless encampments in at least one. I have also noticed other encampments well outside of Quebec city and Montreal.
In Berlin, the homeless population has also exploded, and is expected to get much worse. My friends in the US report similar changes.
Things are getting significantly worse all over, it seems.
My personal thoughts on noticeability of homeless populations is that the current iterations of cheap "check out" drug are mostly ones which make you dissociate.
Therefore youre not left really caring about how you're being perceived, so instead of hiding away from society you splay out on the curb like a zombie.
They're not noticeable in that sense. There is just a homeless population where there was not before, and the existing hotspots have spread from a small street to a block or an area. There just seems to be more homeless people. The official statistics in Berlin support that. I have not looked at other cities.
One decade+ member of our small rental community is about to become homeless, on account of the way he chooses to live (messily, against city codes, with multiple yard vehicles, ignoring landlord/inspector).
Two years ago I think he still would have cared, perhaps even tried; but that spark (of life) is just gone.
Just today evening CNBC Fast Money had a small segment on the state of American consumers: https://youtu.be/Y4fcxBGFXLk
Things are looking bad.