General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 7 Things No One Tells You About Being Homeless - Cracked.com [View all]Ace Acme
(1,464 posts)... or even a wikiup. But modern plastic tarps make quite serviceable substitutes for hides, and plastic pipe is a very interesting structural material once you learn to make its bendiness an asset instead of a liability.
Of course the problem is not a technical one. The problem is a political and social one. The largest homeless camp in the country is in San Jose, California, and every six months or so the police will come in and tear down all their houses and move them on, and within a couple of weeks the camp will blossom again, but everyone has to go through the trouble and expense of acquiring new building materials.
Usedta be, the police would just throw everyone's stuff in a big dumpster and haul it to the dump. Can you imagine that? You've lost everything, and all you have in the world is your wedding photos and your baby pictures and the manuscript to your novel, and the police throw it all in the trash! They got sued for that, and they're a little more careful with people's treasures now.