[charanreddy]

I think some of the welfare schemes has improved the quality of living in India. Atleast in my state I can confirm that the standard of living is much better.

Reg. US, I believe the weather there coupled with high cost of living is a bad combination for the homeless.

I also see vast tracts of unused land at most an hours drive from SFO for example. I don’t know why the government can’t come up with low cost housing leased out to deserving people for a nominal amount. Nothing extravagant, just a couple of rooms, kitchen and bathroom.

[TrackDay]

In my childhood, I had more exposure to Western (American) media. Be it movies, TV shows, Cartoons to even comic books. They portray a perfect society where the kids in school are cool, drive fancy cars, go on dates, eat a ton of cheeseburgers and pizza and never get fat. Be it their parents or the society, everyone is healthy and live the perfect Suburban life. A beautiful house with a pool and two cars in the driveway. Preferably a German sedan and an American SUV.

This is why many folks from around the World are prone to shock when they see the homeless situation in America. Places like Skid row in Los Angeles are a shock reality. Yes, The grass was not all green on the other side. But there is no denying that the American dream is still alive. If one sets out to work hard, one can achieve anything. Nowadays that is possible on one's own home turf too

[invidious]

Reminds me of a funny incident. I was only 18/19 — in my sophomore year of college in upstate NY - must have been 98/99. My roommate and I locked ourselves out of our apartment. We went to the apartment office to see if someone could help us but it was closed. There was an emergency number but we didn't have cell phones - they still hadn't become ubiquitous. Decided to park and sleep in the car with the heater on. A few hours later, a lady knocked on the windscreen and woke us up. She looked sorrowful and assuming we were homeless had brought us coffee and cookies from the nearest 7/11. We took them.

[RoadAtlas]

I have a first-hand indian experience to share. After my graduation in 2011, I came to Kolkata to join my first company. One of my college-mate also joined the company. Salary was ruefully small (~7k) and it was an intern position (later got extended).

It was impossible for us to survive on that salary, so we both asked our parents for monetary support. I was living in a rental house with my parents while he had rented a 1R condo (only one room, even the bathroom was shared).

Things turned worse for him when his farmer father suffered huge losses in his agriculture venture and asked him to take care of himself. He was evicted out the condo and had to spend a few nights in my house.

That was the time, he had a genius idea of getting his family Omni van transported to Kolkata (it was anyway not getting used, business was down) and using it as a makeshift home till he gets a better job.

Long story short, for the next nine months he lived in that car. Fuel was somewhat cheaper, he parked the car in office parking, completed his duties, drove his car to a secluded place and spent the night. Newtown was getting built that time and he had a lot of roads where he could park under a street light and nobody bothered him during the night.

He was carrying almost 8-9 battery banks and got them all charged at office. Office had a gym and he used to enter there early and bath there. There were a lot of building getting constructed in newtown and a lot of them had unattended washrooms which he tracked and used at night. He also used Sulabhs abundantly during the weekends.

It is not my point to glorify this type of lifestyle, I wanted to highlight that living like this is indeed possible in india and if done correctly, will save a lot of money. My friend was not cheap and adventurous, he just made a good use of a problem and found a solution that was innovative and very very resourceful. With the current economy I shall expect a lot of indians adopting this type of living in coming days.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by GTO

It already exists & is called "renting" .

Yes, but my thoughts are towards, affordable renting. Providing more value to the tenants.

It's a very crude idea, but just enough to convey thoughts...

Let's say, I'm working in Chennai, I subscribe for a house closer to my office in 2021. In 2023, I move to Bangalore, so, the hassles are...
1. Find a rental house in Bangalore, closer to office, good school & Wife works, then her office proximity
2. The rent has to be affordable, the advance amount is an hurdle
3. Shift my things from Chennai to Bangalore

Now with a subscription model, all these are taken care. No need to own a furniture as well. Something like...
1. Inform I'm moving
2. Select the house that matches all my criteria
3. Take a public transport/drive to Bangalore
4. And the new house is ready

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

In my childhood, I had more exposure to Western (American) media. Be it movies, TV shows, Cartoons to even comic books. They portray a perfect society where the kids in school are cool, drive fancy cars, go on dates, eat a ton of cheeseburgers and pizza and never get fat. Be it their parents or the society, everyone is healthy and live the perfect Suburban life. A beautiful house with a pool and two cars in the driveway. Preferably a German sedan and an American SUV.

This is why many folks from around the World are prone to shock when they see the homeless situation in America. Places like Skid row in Los Angeles are a shock reality. Yes, The grass was not all green on the other side. But there is no denying that the American dream is still alive. If one sets out to work hard, one can achieve anything. Nowadays that is possible on one's own home turf too

This is so true. Since childhood, my exposure to the US media through cartoons, movies etc made it seem like an ideal place where people are prosperous, living in huge suburban homes, go to fancy schools, every member of the house of the family has a car etc.

However, what I’ve seen is that America is quite similar to India in the sense that the country is extremely complex primarily due to its diversity which makes politics much more complicated. This explains why fundamental issues like gun laws, a basic social security, affordable healthcare and education which aren’t even points of discussion in other western countries. Also, American politics is more right-wing than other western countries which explains why America is so unique, infact the Democratic Party is more to the right economically that many mainstream conservative European parties like the Tories, this by design take libertarianism to the extreme leading to inequalities.

Other factors include its history such as racially discriminating zoning laws and urban development in the cities and a shift in the nature of the US economy from an industrial power to a service based economy which led to a shortage of highly skilled jobs exploited by immigrants while having no enough unskilled jobs. Other western countries deindustrialised as well but were shielded by their strong social security programs.

I am guessing a combination of all these factors has contributed to the increase in the homeless problem in the US. Offcourse, when COVID hit, people couldn’t pay rent given that they were already living pay check to pay check pre-pandemic.

These are all lessons for the Indian politicians and the middle class, we shouldn’t make the mistakes that the Americans did. And at this point, Americans really have to reckon the kind of country they want theirs to be!

[smooth indian]

I have lived in the US for 16 years with last one in the San Francisco which is the hotbed of housing inequalities. It is unbelievable that in a country with some much land and low population density, housing should be a problem at all. It only shows that housing is not just about shelter, but also about identity, status, value and income. So people who are benefiting don't wan't their boat to be rocked.

On a similar note, we could provide for modest but decent home for everyone who lives in Mumbai. However, the ones who stand to lose something here or not gain much might not like the idea. Additionally there are fears that such an action encourages more crowding as people elsewhere will also want a slice of the pie.

The only solution which might apply both to the US and even India is to continuously try and deconcentrate high value economic activities to multiple places. Even when concentration cannot be wished away, measures (better transport/communication, good amenities in mofussil areas) should be taken so as to allow people located away from the economic centers to be able to participate.

[mmxylorider]

Unfortunately, any person living out of their car is assumed to be homeless. There is a sizeable percentage who have opted for this. Real estate prices, even rentals in big metros is high and unaffordable for those doing low-end jobs. The choice is to stay afar and commute which becomes difficult since a 2 job routine is quite common.
Living out of the car works out best for them. A gym membership will allow the facilities to get fresh each day - small price to pay.

Few years ago (not sure if they are still there) - a group of employees created a community in one of the parking lots at Los Angeles airport. All people live out of their vehicles and are airport employees.

On a related note, the Prius is amongst popular cars for living in/glamping. With the MG setup, keeping it on 'Ready' for entire night (for heating/AC) does not use a lot of fuel.

[HooghlyBoy]

In India, Mumbai's real estate has been always the costliest. I remember reading an article on Actor Mithun Chakraborty using a 1965 built Volkswagen Beetle as his home for the night during his struggling days of 1970s. It's still there with him in his Madh Island Bungalow in unrestored condition.
This is the very reason that Dharavi is World's largest slum.
So long humans exist, homelessness will also exist in different forms.