The myth that the economy is getting better is just that, a myth, or perhaps wishful thinking. City officials make very convincing commercials in public relations campaigns saying how strong their local banks are, how layoffs are much lower here than anywhere else in the nation. All are attempts to hide their heads in the sand, like ostriches, asses up in the air, feathers fluffed.
The truth is everyone I know has had a layoff affect someone they know or an immediate family member. Most often it is the primary wage earner (men still get paid more so companies cut out the jobs that cost them the most.) It is much safer to be a woman with a job these days than a white male, or any male for that matter. Going back to college has increased attendance, giving the financial aid offices more work than they've ever seen. No doubt each semester will only increase in numbers.
The tent city in Sacramento is just one. I used to see that skyline of buildings on my way through the city to school everyday. The river was a nice place to jog, a few homeless dotted around, mostly from the ones who fell through the mental illness cracks in the system. If you notice in the video, these tents aren't shoddy shacks built from cardboard or scraps of what's laying around. They're just people that don't have anywhere else to go.
There's a tent city in Merced, Ca, along the river that I used to drive past. I'm told that area is now filled with tent cities, nice tents, families, just needing a place to stay. The local police round them up every few days, make them move, doing the homeless shuffle only to do it again the next week.
The local newspaper is four pages long in lists of forclosures, daily! Homes that working families were buying, their children went to school, 2 car garages, kept well enough up with the "Jones's". When two incomes barely make ends meet, then one or both are lost, it doesn't take long for a house payment to get behind, or a car payment to get behind. Then the vehicle needed to go to work, or find a job is reposessed. Then the house payment falls so far behind there's no hope for catching up.. Then comes a forclosure and a notice of eviction. The children need a street address to be enrolled in school. Those lucky enough to have family to help are fortunate. The rest have no alternative. Families that live in these places are normal, everyday people that in a very short amount of time became what they never thought they'd be.
Whether this is the tail end of a coming back economy, or the very beginning of the worst that is yet to come, we shall see. I have seen many new people in Oklahoma that have moved from the west coast, starting over. (You can buy a house for a fraction of the price here compared to California.) I think the trickling down affect isn't over. But we shall see....
