Homelessness in Suburbia

by Shannon Moriarty · 2010-01-14 11:09:00 UTC
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Mental health, addiction and poverty are not city issues. They are not rural issues. In fact, they are not geographic issues at all. Still, homelessness is often associated with urban areas, simply because this is where most social services are concentrated. Many people refuse to believe that this issue touches the wholesome suburban world of cul-de-sacs, white picket fences mand strip malls.

But as an article in the Toronto Sun points out, this assumption is just plain wack. Homelessness plagues the suburbs just like any other area. In York, one of British Columbia's most prosperous regions,  homelessness is real and it's affecting thousands. Problem is, they have nowhere to go. If someone falls on hard times, there are few housing options; the area has the lowest proportion of rental housing in the area and some of the highest rents. Shelter options are even more limited. The region has four emergency shelters that stay quite busy, but there is plenty of unmet need. For example, there are no shelters that serve single women.

So where do the suburban homeless go? They stay hidden by couch surfing, living in cars or camping, according to the Sun. The suburban homeless are too often unseen, unnoticed and, in too many cases, unaccounted for.

You know what they say -- out of sight, out of mind.

Photo credit: Shahram Sharif

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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