To be without shelter

From cities of the dead to agglomerations, the path of modern day cities have changed dramatically over the last 2 millenniums. Cities have become something seen as alive, vibrant, and continuously moving. They have been named the city that never sleeps (New York, New York), The Town too Tough to Die (Tombstone, Arizona), the village with a past, the city with a future (Kenai, Alaska), and  the city too busy to hate (Atlanta, Georgia during Jim Crow in the turbulent 60’s). This decade’s cities however glamorous the name and picture, have an underlying issue of impoverished areas and homelessness.

There are few things necessary for survival; food, water, and shelter. Yet within city limits there are people not receiving these things. In fact, the US conference of Mayors’ 2014 Hunger and Homelessness Survey indicated that in the partaking cities, 71 percent were seeing a rise in the need for emergency food assistance. 43 percent of these also experience an incline in the rate of homelessness (1). The rising homeless population within the city centers has further been established by the National Coalition for the Homeless when it is indicated that between the years of 1981 – 89 homeless rate tripled and the need for shelters doubled over the next decade (3).  This has become an epidemic that hasn’t benefited from urbanization or modernity.

Modernity is associated with urban areas and capitalism. Spoken about briefly within The New Urban Sociology (4), modernity is indicated as having been viewed as good by some, and bad by others. Even those within sociology’s brain trust of the time argued (Durkheim v Engels). However, the shift was accompanied specialization of tasks, a monetary economy, impersonal interaction, and even possibly a loss of sense of community. Homelessness has increased as the monetary economies have appeared and spread. Then the monetary economies have pushed aside the homeless and started to neglect them. This was accomplished through various laws “The quality of Life Laws” in New York and some loitering laws in general, by actions the gentrification of neighborhoods and placement of fences keeping homeless out of certain areas, and the utter disregard for the homeless basic needs as there is a nightly shortage of beds in shelters.

               Now understanding that modernity, monetary economy, or cities aren’t specifically to blame for the homelessness crises doesn’t necessarily discount them as contributors. Others may be the tendency for commercial districts and “city centers” to move. Take for example DeKalb, Illinois. While this is not a city, the center before NIU was what is now considered downtown DeKalb, whereas now it may be considered to be out on Sycamore Road by Walmart. This minor distance changed the way each area was viewed and interacted within. Now imagine that in the city of Chicago, the center has changed over the last Century and along with it Commercial areas. As pointed out in Chapter 2 of The New Urban Sociology (4), the changing of city centers and capitols has had a detrimental impact on those around it. It is an area that supplies jobs and monetary opportunities, without which one could not survive in a monetary economy. The book even mentions how in the past several hundred thousand people followed their prince from their town in order to survive off his money/favor. People follow the shift of the commercial area, but others are left behind.  

The reason I bring homeless into a discussion on the readings is not just that they relate to concepts discussed, but also because they show an increasing need to re-examine the urban community. The rates show discrimination as homeless are more likely to be black (2). Sexism is shown in the rates of refusal of beds between men and women. Ageism in the rates of beds for older and younger homeless individuals. Rising rates for those that should receive help; veterans & mentally ill. The lack of protection for adolescents as half of the 60 percent of homeless women have children living with them on the street. As Gandhi put it “The true measure of any society can be found in the way it treats its most vulnerable members.”

              

Source 1 

http://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/2014/1211-report-hh.pdf.

Source 2

http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=310291&renderforprint=1&CFID=122884578&CFTOKEN=90981796&jsessionid=f030d19e104b2ed727c73d704e1047495454

Source 3

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/How_Many.html

Source 4

The New Urban Sociology (assigned Reading)