politics and housing for the poor

http://citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics-the-valley/9987-historic-monument-process-blindsided-by-backroom-politics

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/04/18/rich-neighbors-refused-to-let-george-lucas-build-studio-so-hes-building-affordable-housing-instead/ George Lucas is a hero for the Middle Class, the new homeless poor, artists, teachers and our culture in America!!

The homeless population continues to grow as the cost of housing is unaffordable. The rising numbers of homeless will never be stopped as long as Necessities are out of reach for the majority: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-homeless-count-release-20150511-story.html Homeless teens with and without their homeless families: https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-homeless-teens This is where I watched it begin in the 80's when the cost of housing in New York City became unaffordable. I lived for 17 years in New York and the homeless were never visible and were considered an "oddity". Suddenly huge numbers were visible all over NYC, on 5th avenue, Park Avenue, East Side, West Side, everywhere you went: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31791019

second generation homeless population continues to grow...

There was a time when this didn't exist, before Regan, before Necessities became Luxuries. I was a Case Manager in Chicago for three years in the 70's and it wasn't this bad for the poor. They at least had the dignity of housing. After moving to Los Angeles in the early 90's I took a part time job on Skid Row after witnessing the growth of homelessness in New York City in the early 80's. A literal explosion. Again, I watched the population explode in Los Angeles as it had in New York City when I lived there. I worked on Skid Row for 20 years as the population grew. This population will continue to grow as long as Necessities are priced for the rich. I mean housing, food, insurance, health care. Out of reach for the poor and the Middle Class is unable to stimulate the economy when all of their money goes for overpriced housing. New Stats show that the average person is paying 30% to 40% of their income for ordinary, non-luxury housing alone. Leaves little room for spending that creates a robust economy as we had since the late 40's. The cost of living is higher than 90% of what the people can really afford. It seems we don't learn from history, the pain that inequality of wealth and absurdly high profits has caused. http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/?smid=fb-share#/?chapt=1 It's sad when it started with evictions in the 80's. I talked to some of those newly homeless people back then especially the elderly and that's what happened to them, thrown on the street so the LL's could charge more for the apts. These children are the second generation of the explosion of the homeless in the city in the early 80's.... It will continue. I watched it grow from a few homeless men in Los Angeles when I moved here to women, then women with children, then whole families. I knew it would happen here too when Los Angeles also become a city of high rents and high cost housing. Why I had a second career on Skid Row. Thank God for SRO Housing Corporation.

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/08/01/a-rising-share-of-young-adults-live-in-their-parents-home/ http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2013/07/many-young-adults-are-still-living-home-and-its-hurting-economy/6370/ This has more to do with the high cost of housing. Housing prices went through the roof and higher than salaries in the early 80's and have not decreased since. Housing is a luxury, rather than a Necessity and as long as this is the case, the economy will never improve. People are spending 50 to 75% of their income on housing, therefore no disposable income for anything else. Before housing became an "investment" and a luxury in the early 80's, people spent 25 to 33% of their income on housing. The high cost of housing is also the main reason for the population explosion of the homeless, which has been growing and continues to grow since the early 80's. There is no way the young will be able to get housing, either as a renter or a home owner. It's just too expensive. The housing market is supposedly "recovering", however, there will be another burst of this bubble as this can't go on forever.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/10/the-hideous-inequality-exposed-by-hurricane-sandy/264337/#.UJQ2jY2Fbn9.facebook / .................. This 30 year trend will take a long time to reverse. It's amazing that so many can't see that the high cost of living (i.e., Necessities: housing, medical, insurance and food) is what is killing the economy. Prices go up and salaries stay down or go down. No disposable income for the majority = economic disaster. "New census data shows that the city is the most economically divided it has been in a decade, according to the New York Times. As has occurred across the country, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Twenty-one percent of the city is in poverty, and the median household income decreased by $821 annually. Per the Times: "Median income for the lowest fifth was $8,844, down $463 from 2010. For the highest, it was $223,285, up $1,919."

Family

     >>>>>>>>>>>> The bottom line is no one has disposable income when they are paying all their income for Housing, Insurance, Medical Care and recently, food. The housing market did go south, however, is still unaffordable for many. Hence the Middle Class is the New Poor and the Homeless are a new culture in America. The homeless population exploded in the 80's and continued it's growth to families with children for the past 30 years (before Obama). In the past Middle Class families contributed to the economy by buying food and clothing, household items, cars and little luxuries. Now they are now using food banks and food stamps. The lower income people are now homeless or living in vans or cars and don't buy anything, except gas (even if they are working). The Middle Class and the poor were major contributors to a healthy economy. The economy can't and will never improve if small businesses and big businesses have lost business from the majority of the population. Jobs cannot be created unless people have more disposable income to buy goods and services.