Have Times Changed That Much?

Sacramento Tent CityPart of what makes this class so relevant is the current economic slump the United States is experiencing, similar to, but not as grave as the Great Depression. With each photograph of or story about the Depression, I have looked for parallels between that time and today. Fortunately as of now times are not as severe, but maybe people have been struck just as hard as the dustbowl farmers and others the Depression left homeless.

In many Depression-era novels and memoirs there is a focus on a gravitation towards the West, especially California. California became home to many migrant workers living in "Hoovervilles" set up across the state. An article on a news web blog I discovered details the dire situation of the increasing number of homeless in California today and the Hooverville-like tent cities that have sprung up. One city in which many residents have experienced the lash of the economy is Sacramento.

Along the American River in Sacramento an already existing group of tents inhabited by the chronically homeless has grown into a tent city after the city's rate of "newly homeless" rose 15% from 2007 to 2008. Many of the new residents of Sacramento's tent city have been laid off construction jobs, others from truck driving and selling cars. Most lived in middle class neighborhoods, made middle class salaries and would never have expected to find themselves on the street. Many of those interviewed admitted they have children and other family members who don't even know they are living in a tent. One man was quoted saying he looks for work most of the week, but there is no work to be found...sound familiar? He also said that many people won't hire him when they discover he is homeless. Is there more stigma surrounding the homeless today than there was during the Depression?

The population of tent city has fluctuated between 200 and 500 people, which may not be comparable to the expansive Hoovervilles. And the size of today's tent cities are not the only thing that varies from the Depression. The amount of aid the state is giving it's homeless as well as the amount it pledges to give in the coming months will provide much greater relief to the homeless than the New Deal and government camps were able to. The city of Sacramento plans to improve the area the tent city is located in and provide those living there with better standards of living and the state plans to allocate 2.4 million of money received from the federal stimulus package to the homeless in Sacramento.

But Sacramento is not the only city in California where many have found themselves homeless and living in tent cities. In fact the situation is reportedly worse in other cities. But are residents of California as aware of the increasing number of homeless in their state as residents were during the Depression? Are the tent cities springing up more or less visible than the Depression-era Hoovervilles? Whether they are or not, the homeless have certainly been noticed by people in positions to help.