Homelessness: 23 levels of housing and homelessness... where do you rate?
Like so many other things, there are many different levels to both housing and homelessness, here's at them, from most secure to the least
This Park n Ride lot in the on the edge of Studio City and North Hollywood, turned into a Park n Live during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here you see an old limo used as bedroom/storage unit, parked outside a shelter made of local scraps of whatever. There were about ten shelters, and 8 or 10 RV’s and campers, parked there at its peak in 2021. This spot is in the San Fernando Valley, and is right over the hill from Hollywood, a couple miles away from the Hollywood sign. This parking lot has been completely cleaned up of homeless people since, and they’ve all been pushed to other locations. This is what I call “homeless pinball,” bouncing homeless people from one location to another. #steveemigphotos
Different levels of housing… many that most people don’t realize exist
Most people in large cities, and some not-so-large cities, see homeless people these days. You may have noticed that there are a variety of ways people exist without a house or apartment. Many years ago, doing a blog about panhandling and homelessness, I decided to write down every level of housing and homelessness that I could think of. Since I’ve lived at many of these levels, I had a little more insight into this than most people would. You can argue the list a bit, but here’s the levels I came up with.
Keep in mind, these are financial levels of housing, with the most financially secure level at the top, to the least secure at the very bottom. These have nothing to do with alcoholism and addiction, or mental illness. There are alcoholics, drug addicts, and mentally ill people living at every level on this list. This list is about housing security, not personal habits.
(One) You live in a house or condo that you own free and clear, with all of the housing expenses (principle, interest, taxes, and insurance) paid for by either a business you own, but you don’t have to work at, or cash flow from your investments. Your housing is paid for completely by investments, and your income is stable, and will pay for your housing whether you work or not. There is almost no chance that you could be kicked out of the place you live.
(Two) You live in a house or condo that you own free and clear, with only property taxes to pay. Those property taxes are paid for by a business you own, but have to work at.
(Three) You live in a house or condo that you own, free and clear, with only property taxes to pay. You pay those taxes by working at a job. Since the possibility of getting laid off exists, however small, there’s a chance you could lose your income, but would only have property taxes to pay to live there.
(Four) You live in a house or condo you own, you have a mortgage, and your housing expenses are paid for by either investments, or a business you own, and that you don’t have to work at. Your business could take a hit, but the chances of you having trouble paying your basic housing costs are very small.
(Five) You live in a house or condo you own, with a mortgage, and your housing expenses are paid for by a business you own, and have to work at.
(Six) You live in a house or condo you own, with a mortgage, and your housing expenses are paid for by a job you work at. You’re housing situation is very stable, unless you lose your job. In that case, paying the mortgage may become a big issue if you have stretched yourself too far financially. There will be a lot of people who are in this category right now, but living paycheck to paycheck, and will have some issues when losing jobs in the coming recession. There are just far too many people, particularly those who bought houses in 2020-2023, who are stretched to thin financially, heading in to a recession they’re being told won’t happen. This “there won’t be a recession” narrative happens every recession, the numbers are just bigger this time around.
(Seven) You live in a house that you rent, and your housing expenses are paid for investments, or by a business you own, and that you don’t have to work at.
(Eight) You live in a house you rent, and your housing expenses are paid for by a business you own, but that you have to work at in some capacity.
(Nine) You live in a house or condo that you rent, and your housing expenses are paid for by the job that you, and perhaps your partner or spouse, work(s) at.
(Ten) You live with your family in a house they own, you pay some rent, and your housing expenses are paid for by your job.
(Eleven) You live in a house or apartment that your family owns, and your family pays all of your housing expenses.
(Twelve) You live in a house or apartment that is rented, and that rent is paid for by somebody else, like family, sugar daddy/momma, pimp, cousin with a meth lab, OR by government programs of some kind. If you’re a student in college, and your family is paying for your dorm or apartment, you are in this category. If you are on unemployment and no one in the household is working, you are in this category, until you find a new job. If you live in a halfway house of any kind, you are in this category. If you live in a Section 8 rental, you are also in this category. The possibility of getting kicked out if you break someone’s rules is fairly high. But you have a place to live. For now.
Here’s where homelessness begins, in my experience
(Thirteen) You live in a “weekly” motel, a “cheap motel” that is anything but cheap. You have a roof over your head, a bathroom, a TV, and probably heat and A/C. But you pay a high weekly rent to stay there, and may not be able to stay every week. You work some kind of job to pay the rent. You also have “neighbors” who smoke meth, crack, turn tricks, and have really interesting arguments and fights at 3 am. The police know half of your “neighbors” by their first names.
(Fourteen) You live in that cheap weekly motel above, but the housing expenses are paid for by “a check,” meaning payments by some kind of government program. It may be Social Security Disability, SSI, City/county homeless housing programs, or some other form of government help.
(Fifteen) You live in a vehicle that actually runs, and have a job of some kind to pay your living expenses. Very often people at this level have a small storage unit to hold personal items, and take showers at the gym, or something along those lines.
(Sixteen) You live in a vehicle that runs, but your expenses are paid for by “a check,” government aid of some kind. This could be Disability, SSI, G.R., etc.
(Seventeen) You live for an extended period of time in a homeless shelter. You have a bed at night, access to showers, and a place to eat one or two free meals, sometimes. But you get kicked out all day, and have to go someplace else. You often have some government aid, and may be going through the “programs” (addiction track or mental health track) to get more extensive, permanent, government help, usually Disability or maybe SSI out here in California (There are far fewer people on full Disability out here ($1,100-$3,500/month), per homeless capita, than back east, in my experience).
(Eighteen) You live in a vehicle that doesn’t run, and is parked somewhere, but you do some kind of work to earn money for your living expenses.
(Nineteen) You live in a vehicle that doesn’t run, and is parked somewhere, and your living expenses come from some government program(s).
(Twenty) You live outside, on the streets, in a tent or hand built shelter, and have some kind of work or hustle to pay for your basic living expenses.
(Twenty-one) You live on the streets, in a tent or hand built shelter, and most of your basic expenses are paid for by one or more government programs.
(Twenty-two) You live on the streets, with no tent or shelter, but have “food stamps” or G.R., or some form of government support to buy food and perhaps some basic expenses. You do some kind of work, or panhandle, for other needed items.
(Twenty-three) You live on the streets, with no tent or shelter, and have no form of government help or support. You panhandle, beg, scavenge, or steal what you need to survive. This level is generally made up of the absolute worst of the addicts and/or mentally ill.
