The Sin City of Las Vegas Is Now Becoming the Foreclosure City of Tents
January 28th, 2009
Las Vegas is known as the Sin City. Today it has become the foreclosure city of tents. In Reno, about 200 people know the tent city to be their home.
The high-rise gambling casinos cast a shadow over the rows of tents – a mute witness to human indulgence on one side contrasted with suffering on the other.
Seth Doane asked one of the residents of the tent city, Gena Mercer whether she ever thought that ultimately she would end up in such a place? Gena shook her head – till the other day tents were for fun filled holidays on vacations.
Nevada has not seen such high unemployment figures since the last 23 years. It jumped by 60% in 2008 from 2007. Now the tent city is the home for 170 odd people. One resident named Mona has left everything in the hands of God and cannot think anymore. Some of the days she feels scared and frightened. Life is not easy out here with noisy trains and blazing sun’s heat to cope with. The residents are a mixture of those who have been homeless for many years and those who are new – evicted by the foreclosure crisis.
Michael Moore is a new entrant. He said that even though he has worked hard all his life, it is not right by any logic that people like him should be sleeping on the dirt and soil. Last Christmas his family had lived in rented quarters in Portland but when he lost his job three years ago they shifted to Reno looking for opportunities. Moore is a veteran (GED) and has experience in forklifting in warehouses. But his types of jobs are not available here. To hunt for them he has to trudge long distances.
It is the same story across the tent city – the sufferings have started either from foreclosures or unemployment with one linked to the other. Right across the country tent cities have mushroomed in Columbus, Chattanooga, Fresno, Portland, Seattle etc. The officials organizing the tent city in Reno said that when things got very bad they decided to set up this tent city.
The tent city is marked with a fencing that has led to a feeling of security. There are temporary fresh water connections. The hope is that the people will be shifted to houses or shelters. But the real challenge is finding employment. The residents know that this is something they will have to find on their own.
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- Afro-Americans Are Suffering the Most for this Foreclosure Crisis
- Congressional Panel Is Worried About Misuse of Funds Meant for Foreclosure Prevention
- Increase in Foreclosure Activity is Leading to More Homelessness
- Washington State Will be Getting Help to Tackle the Forclosure Menace
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