There are more than 58,000 homeless college students in the U.S.

[retromike22]

Sean McLean's first day of college at the University of Massachusetts Boston came on the heels of sobering news: The night before, he and his family were evicted from their home in Woburn, 9 miles north of Boston.

"I went to school knowing that later that day I would be packing up everything I owned and going to a shelter," said McLean, now 19.

McLean is one of more than 58,000 homeless college students in America today, according to Free Application for Federal Student Aid data from the 2012-2013 academic year. The figure -- which does not account for students who either do not realize they qualify as homeless (i.e., couch-surfers) or those who choose not to report their cases out of fear or shame -- marks a more than 75 percent increase over the previous three years. Administrators and poverty advocates nationwide attribute the recent spike in homelessness among college students to several leading factors: a parent losing a job, a lack of affordable housing and rising tuition costs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/26/college-student-homeless-boston_n_6145980.html

[Associate Justice PiT]

     It reminds me a little of when Arian Foster admitted that he received kickbacks while in college and defended himself by saying that they were the reason he could pay for both rent and food.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Homelessness is such a huge problem in this country and it's sad that we have become so used to it that we don't even notice it anymore.  One of the first things I hear from foreigners when I ask them what surprised them the most about the United States is the number of homeless people.

[Beet]

Honestly, housing should be guaranteed, especially in wintertime.

[Deus Naturae]

Abolish all zoning laws and other restrictions on housing size, density, and usage. Also get rid of rent control (since developers have little incentive to build affordable units when existing ones are already rent-controlled). That should go a long way toward promoting affordable housing.

[Indy Texas]

Abolish all zoning laws and other restrictions on housing size, density, and usage. Also get rid of rent control (since developers have little incentive to build affordable units when existing ones are already rent-controlled). That should go a long way toward promoting affordable housing.

Why is homelessness less of a problem in Europe despite their real estate development regulation being quite strict?

Houston's lack of zoning hasn't gotten rid of our significant homeless population.

[Deus Naturae]

Abolish all zoning laws and other restrictions on housing size, density, and usage. Also get rid of rent control (since developers have little incentive to build affordable units when existing ones are already rent-controlled). That should go a long way toward promoting affordable housing.

Why is homelessness less of a problem in Europe despite their real estate development regulation being quite strict?

Is it actually stricter than in the US? Even is it is (which I'm skeptical of), American-style anti-density zoning is basically designed to prevent low-income development. Exclusionary zoning is a predominately American phenomenon.

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A good deal of homelessness is the result of factors affordable housing can't fix (drug addiction, mental illness, etc):



Houston is more affordable than most major US cities though:

[justfollowingtheelections]

Abolish all zoning laws and other restrictions on housing size, density, and usage. Also get rid of rent control (since developers have little incentive to build affordable units when existing ones are already rent-controlled). That should go a long way toward promoting affordable housing.

Sorry but that's not true.  I've lived in places with no rent control and high demand for housing and usually what happens is that the landlords charge the most ridiculous prices for the sh**ttiest apartments.

The only solution is more public housing projects under the condition that you don't put all the poor people in one place which eventually turns into a ghetto that everyone wants to get the hell out of.

[Flake]

Abolishing zoning laws is such a terrible idea.

Do you realize the consequences of abolishing zoning laws? That if someone wanted to open up a landfill next door to you they could legally do it? There's a reason we got zoning laws in the first place.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Abolish all zoning laws and other restrictions on housing size, density, and usage. Also get rid of rent control (since developers have little incentive to build affordable units when existing ones are already rent-controlled). That should go a long way toward promoting affordable housing.

Sorry but that's not true.  I've lived in places with no rent control and high demand for housing and usually what happens is that the landlords charge the most ridiculous prices for the sh**ttiest apartments.

The only solution is more public housing projects under the condition that you don't put all the poor people in one place which eventually turns into a ghetto that everyone wants to get the hell out of.

In California, rent control has no affect on what a landlord will charge at the beginning of a tenancy. Prop. 13 has much more of an impact on housing than rent control.

[Simfan34]

Abolish all zoning laws and other restrictions on housing size, density, and usage.

Every solution for you is "completely abolish something", isn't it?

[The_Doctor]

I'd be genuinely curious to see how many of the homeless were liberal arts majors. I've been one and I know that was a huge mistake. (I'm not homeless, but it wasn't a smart idea).