Tent Cities for Homeless on the Rise in United States

The Washington DC based National Coalition for the Homeless says 61 percent of local and state homeless organizations have registered an increase in homeless people since 2007. The problem is being attributed to home repossessions, the credit crunch and rising unemployment.

The picture shows just such a tent city in Reno, Nevada. Reno suffers from one of the highest home repossession rates in the United States and this tent city sprung up to a population of 150 people very quickly. Sylvia Finn, 51, tells of how she lost her job in Northern California, couldn't keep up with rent payments and has little choice but to settle here. Soup kitchens in the area report serving hundreds of more people a day than usual.

The report supports the belief that the United States is in an unofficial recession with the lower and middle classes increasingly uncertain about their economic security amid rising oil and food prices.

Even affluent cities are not safe from the specter. Santa Barbara reports scores of people living in their cars in city car parks. Fresno, too, is plagued by tent cities. Ohio, Washington and Orgon report increasing concern over this problem.

Homeless activists in Seattle have been protesting outside City Hall by setting up mock tent cities.