There’s a clarity in this that doesn’t try to aestheticise what it is describing, which is precisely why it lands.
What stays with me is the way “visibility” becomes the central distortion. The waterfront, the curated city, the language of markets, all of it sits in frame, while the conditions that produce the unhoused are displaced just slightly out of narrative focus, even though they are structurally central to it. The essay keeps returning to that tension: not invisibility, but managed visibility.
The analysis of housing as trajectory rather than crisis is particularly sharp. Once shelter becomes a function of timing and leverage rather than stability, the emotional register of society shifts from aspiration to precarity, even for those still technically housed. That slow tightening you describe is doing a lot of work.
And the section on tent cities is where the moral framing becomes uncomfortable in a necessary way, not as pathology, but as proximity. Protest here is not symbolic; it is spatial insistence. The system is forced to look at what it distributes unevenly, even if it learns to normalise looking away.
I also want to acknowledge something more directly: I volunteer at a shelter, so I have seen, in very immediate terms, how rarely homelessness is a singular “event.” It is almost always a sequence: rent gaps, health breaks, relational fractures, administrative delays, all compounding until there is no remaining surface to stabilise on. What your essay captures well is that these are not exceptions to the system, but outcomes produced by it at the margins.
The most unsettling line, in that sense, is not about the unhoused population at all, it is the admission of proximity: that sense of “verge,” where stability is still intact but no longer unquestioned. That is where the essay quietly stops being about “them” and starts being about structure as shared condition.
It’s the same in Australian cities Leo. I sold my modest house in 2005 so I could give my kids a deposit each and that got them on an already difficult ladder into home ownership which they have maintained, thankfully. I put the rest into a new property with a new partner.. not such a great idea as it turned out, but I own a cottage with a land lease which is enough(well almost enough!)I stopped most professional work to be an artist and a writer. There’s a new budget in Australia in two weeks. The Labor Government promises to increase social housing, state governments too (and they have) and to cut out or cut down tax incentives for property investors which are part of the reason for speculation in housing driving up costs. There are already prohibitive costs for overseas investors but the problem remains. Catastrophic levels of mortgage debt for young families, country towns not being able to house their workers, people couch surfing and sleeping in their cars and here where I live, riding trains, pan handling and, at night, sleeping on the beach. Yes it’s illegal, yes, there are poisonous snakes, and yes it is very cold and wet in winter. Yes there are mobile services, food and showers, and doctors but the unemployment benefit is very low, shelters are always full and it costs $30 a night, maybe once a week for a mattress, and a chance to cook at hot meal and have a shower. It’s not Canada cold but it’s still horrible.
The investment properties is where most of our houses get eaten up as well. some become rentals but some sit empty. if the is a demand they make more money. this is a manipulation of the market. It’s wrong and should be illegal.i’m glad you have somewhere. those poisonous snakes are terrifying, sleeping on the beach or outside in Australia sounds scary. stay safe out there.
Ah in 25 years here I have seen dugites, long slender and golden brown, only three times and they glide away.. I saw an awesomely beautiful tiger snake once, by a lake a metre below my path, and going the other way. It was bigger, five feet long and so beautiful I caught my breath but I wouldn’t even walk, let alone sleep in its terrain!
No, not cuddly! I’m a kiwi. NZ is a land, like Ireland, without snakes at all. We get teased here. Both these Western Australian snakes are highly venomous. There are effective anti venoms but you have to get to hospital in time. In first aid we learn to immobilise the arm or leg exposing the bite area and keep the person still while calling for help. Someone will die, maybe once a year, here from snakebite. They are beautiful (to me) but no bush walks for me without a charged mobile phone! There are good pics on Wikipedia..The only snakes I’ve seen pictures of around people’s shoulders are non venomous pythons in Queensland, on the NE of the continent.
There are laundry mats even in the smallest towns. Rec centers are a good place for a shower. One across from where I lived used to allow unhoused people to shower there on Wednesday’s before noon and a different place up the street on a different day. In the communities they know, if you ask around. The word travels around.
Recreation centers offer a natural resource for hygiene but few are adapted to the needs of homeless. Sadly, many try to discourage them from “loitering “.
Yes. There has to be a compromise somewhere. They aren’t adapted but they still try to do a good thing. There should be some sort of funding program for this. I have seen the lineup the program gets people clean. Which does wonders for someone’s self esteem. I can’t imagine not being able to wash my hands whenever I need to.
Where I am various churches run programs that try to get people housed and some small parishes offer hot meals and mobile showers once a week. I think people ask around. Buses and trains are free for pensioners outside peak hours. I’ve seen people come out of public changing rooms that have showers, even cold ones in the mornings in supermarkets and shopping malls. Libraries and arts centres always have facilities. We also have free hot showers on certain beaches which are well used by people living in vans as well as people camping rough as well as local swimmers. One wealthy area city council decided to cut the hot water off, not wanting to provide services to “itinerants.” Interesting that provoked an outcry. One man said,” I pay a fortune in rates(city taxes) living here and I want some of that to go to those without a home like mine! “ I know it will be different everywhere.
Hi Leo, I am in the exact position as you. I write ✍️ & post on Substack & Truth about things that are happening in the U.S. as well as in other parts of the world, due to politicians who are not trying to make our nations better but actually attempting to destroy their country’s sovereignty.
I haven’t figured out how to post correctly on Substack yet. I am permanently disabled from an auto accident and I am struggling, financially. I would greatly appreciate any advice on setting up my “Karen’s Newsletter” on Substack to get followers & Subscribers, and how to set up “Buy Me a Cup of Coffee.” ☕️
You need to set up your stripe account. It’s a hassle but it’s easy. Weird they have scan your face. Then setting up buy coffee is easy. Posting is easy once you can navigate the site which will take some getting used to. Google it if you have to. On the main dashboard there is a create button and it will give you options like article or note. Article is the post. I usually write everything in a document and copy and paste the whole thing into substack. I hope this helps a bit.
Excellent post. It HURTS to see unoccupied houses, even former motels , empty, when there are unhoused people building their tent cities and the people in power discussing criminalization of homelessness
There’s a clarity in this that doesn’t try to aestheticise what it is describing, which is precisely why it lands.
What stays with me is the way “visibility” becomes the central distortion. The waterfront, the curated city, the language of markets, all of it sits in frame, while the conditions that produce the unhoused are displaced just slightly out of narrative focus, even though they are structurally central to it. The essay keeps returning to that tension: not invisibility, but managed visibility.
The analysis of housing as trajectory rather than crisis is particularly sharp. Once shelter becomes a function of timing and leverage rather than stability, the emotional register of society shifts from aspiration to precarity, even for those still technically housed. That slow tightening you describe is doing a lot of work.
And the section on tent cities is where the moral framing becomes uncomfortable in a necessary way, not as pathology, but as proximity. Protest here is not symbolic; it is spatial insistence. The system is forced to look at what it distributes unevenly, even if it learns to normalise looking away.
I also want to acknowledge something more directly: I volunteer at a shelter, so I have seen, in very immediate terms, how rarely homelessness is a singular “event.” It is almost always a sequence: rent gaps, health breaks, relational fractures, administrative delays, all compounding until there is no remaining surface to stabilise on. What your essay captures well is that these are not exceptions to the system, but outcomes produced by it at the margins.
The most unsettling line, in that sense, is not about the unhoused population at all, it is the admission of proximity: that sense of “verge,” where stability is still intact but no longer unquestioned. That is where the essay quietly stops being about “them” and starts being about structure as shared condition.
Wow well said. you really looked at this deeply.
Your right homelessness is never an isolated incident. There is always a driving factor.
That “verge” feels too real at times.
Thank you for reading and the great comment Dipti.
Very hard hit piece . I felt the weight of the last line. That scent of precarity is something so many of us know all too well.
Thank you Aaliya. That last does seem to linger in the back of your mind. 🙏
It’s the same in Australian cities Leo. I sold my modest house in 2005 so I could give my kids a deposit each and that got them on an already difficult ladder into home ownership which they have maintained, thankfully. I put the rest into a new property with a new partner.. not such a great idea as it turned out, but I own a cottage with a land lease which is enough(well almost enough!)I stopped most professional work to be an artist and a writer. There’s a new budget in Australia in two weeks. The Labor Government promises to increase social housing, state governments too (and they have) and to cut out or cut down tax incentives for property investors which are part of the reason for speculation in housing driving up costs. There are already prohibitive costs for overseas investors but the problem remains. Catastrophic levels of mortgage debt for young families, country towns not being able to house their workers, people couch surfing and sleeping in their cars and here where I live, riding trains, pan handling and, at night, sleeping on the beach. Yes it’s illegal, yes, there are poisonous snakes, and yes it is very cold and wet in winter. Yes there are mobile services, food and showers, and doctors but the unemployment benefit is very low, shelters are always full and it costs $30 a night, maybe once a week for a mattress, and a chance to cook at hot meal and have a shower. It’s not Canada cold but it’s still horrible.
The investment properties is where most of our houses get eaten up as well. some become rentals but some sit empty. if the is a demand they make more money. this is a manipulation of the market. It’s wrong and should be illegal.i’m glad you have somewhere. those poisonous snakes are terrifying, sleeping on the beach or outside in Australia sounds scary. stay safe out there.
Ah in 25 years here I have seen dugites, long slender and golden brown, only three times and they glide away.. I saw an awesomely beautiful tiger snake once, by a lake a metre below my path, and going the other way. It was bigger, five feet long and so beautiful I caught my breath but I wouldn’t even walk, let alone sleep in its terrain!
I don’t know much about snakes. I’m in Canada, they are practically mythical creatures here. Are Those friendly snakes? Like Cuddly or non-cuddly?
No, not cuddly! I’m a kiwi. NZ is a land, like Ireland, without snakes at all. We get teased here. Both these Western Australian snakes are highly venomous. There are effective anti venoms but you have to get to hospital in time. In first aid we learn to immobilise the arm or leg exposing the bite area and keep the person still while calling for help. Someone will die, maybe once a year, here from snakebite. They are beautiful (to me) but no bush walks for me without a charged mobile phone! There are good pics on Wikipedia..The only snakes I’ve seen pictures of around people’s shoulders are non venomous pythons in Queensland, on the NE of the continent.
In Canada we have a few types of snakes I think. I saw one once 30 years ago so I know they exist.
Does anyone here know where to go for a shower and laundry?
There are laundry mats even in the smallest towns. Rec centers are a good place for a shower. One across from where I lived used to allow unhoused people to shower there on Wednesday’s before noon and a different place up the street on a different day. In the communities they know, if you ask around. The word travels around.
Recreation centers offer a natural resource for hygiene but few are adapted to the needs of homeless. Sadly, many try to discourage them from “loitering “.
Yes. There has to be a compromise somewhere. They aren’t adapted but they still try to do a good thing. There should be some sort of funding program for this. I have seen the lineup the program gets people clean. Which does wonders for someone’s self esteem. I can’t imagine not being able to wash my hands whenever I need to.
Where are you Deborah?
Where I am various churches run programs that try to get people housed and some small parishes offer hot meals and mobile showers once a week. I think people ask around. Buses and trains are free for pensioners outside peak hours. I’ve seen people come out of public changing rooms that have showers, even cold ones in the mornings in supermarkets and shopping malls. Libraries and arts centres always have facilities. We also have free hot showers on certain beaches which are well used by people living in vans as well as people camping rough as well as local swimmers. One wealthy area city council decided to cut the hot water off, not wanting to provide services to “itinerants.” Interesting that provoked an outcry. One man said,” I pay a fortune in rates(city taxes) living here and I want some of that to go to those without a home like mine! “ I know it will be different everywhere.
And where are you, and these amenities Ms. Vivien…?
Hi Deborah.. not the same time zone I’m afraid .. I’m in Western Australia.
In Los Angeles and I thank you for that information!
Your welcome
Hi Leo, I am in the exact position as you. I write ✍️ & post on Substack & Truth about things that are happening in the U.S. as well as in other parts of the world, due to politicians who are not trying to make our nations better but actually attempting to destroy their country’s sovereignty.
I haven’t figured out how to post correctly on Substack yet. I am permanently disabled from an auto accident and I am struggling, financially. I would greatly appreciate any advice on setting up my “Karen’s Newsletter” on Substack to get followers & Subscribers, and how to set up “Buy Me a Cup of Coffee.” ☕️
Thank you 🙏
You need to set up your stripe account. It’s a hassle but it’s easy. Weird they have scan your face. Then setting up buy coffee is easy. Posting is easy once you can navigate the site which will take some getting used to. Google it if you have to. On the main dashboard there is a create button and it will give you options like article or note. Article is the post. I usually write everything in a document and copy and paste the whole thing into substack. I hope this helps a bit.
This is all too common now, and disgusting! To fight is to survive🙏🙏🙏
It seems like fighting to survive is the case. I hear the same story from people all over the world.
Excellent post. It HURTS to see unoccupied houses, even former motels , empty, when there are unhoused people building their tent cities and the people in power discussing criminalization of homelessness
and building huge ”detention centers”.
Thank you Kaija. I totally agree. These are kept as investment properties. These are all fear tactics.