The Evolution of Tent City Hospitality

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-08-12 13:00:00 UTC
Topics:

That was then...

... this is now.

First there was the outright destruction of tent cities. The came the endless evictions. But today, some cities are starting to accept the existence of tent cities. Others are even servicing them.

Could this be a case of recession-induced compassion?

The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted several cities, once intolerant of tent cities who have today come to accept them, such as Nashville, Tampa, Ontario (California), to name a few. Nashville, for example, is providing portable toilettes, case workers, garbage pickup, and police surveillance to make these encampments safer and more comfortable for residents. And why not? With shelters full and affordable housing in perpetual short supply, Nashville's tent city residents literally have nowhere else to go.

But why has it taken a recession to make these city officials come around? Perhaps because, in many cases, resistance to tent cities is based on unfounded judgments about the people who live there. But, as Mark Horvath's Tent City Tour has demonstrated, tent cities are as varied as the individuals who live in them. In some cases, they are organized communities with elected leadership, rules, and departments.

Still, though tent cities may be organized and accommodating, this does not mean they should be a permanently accepted substitute for decent, affordable housing. I hope they are as temporary as this economic depression.  

 

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.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Forgotten Gulf Coast Poverty
NEXT STORY:
Is the NCAA Putting Student Athletes at Risk?

COMMENTS (4)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.