People Living in Storage Units Accentuate Homelessness Problem in California

Solving the homeless issue should be a community effort. There are elderly out there who are homeless because of no fault of their own. The high cost of medical and housing units are outrageous. And then...prescription meds...those are sky high too.

Remember tent cities ?
they're about to make a comeback.

I know a guy that did this for a while this winter, an Army veteran of 16 years service.

Yet the Democrat politicians in California just passed a law to give citizens of MEXICO who entered the US illegally $60 million to go to California colleges!!!

Not unique to Californika, we have homeless people renting storage units two blocks from here in Georgia. One even has an A/C unit!

Someone could stand to make a bunch of money off of storage unit living spaces if they provided an outhouse and running water within the vicinity. LOL. Homeless people need a place to live too! If shelters are filled up, where do you expect homeless people to go, if not on the streets?! You can't ignore it and it will go away. There must be a solution.

Too cold. All that metal around me. I liked it better outside under the stars. A quiet spot inlaying an onramp worked just fine for me. Could spend days there and never see or talk to another soul. An occasional mongoose here and there were about all I encountered.

This would have been our plight if we'd remained in California. My husband was bumped from handyman, making $25hr. to packer/selector making $13 with zero overtime. Our rent was due to increase from $900 to $1.450 for a one bedroom apartment. This one bedroom apartment also charged renters insurance $35month, water/sewage $35month, parking $25month. He went from making $1,500 a week with overtime, to $500 a week with no overtime. I foresaw the coming catrostrophe and made the decision to give everything away, take only what we could fit into our truck, and move North. We not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but at least we have a roof over our heads and are able to pay our bills. The greed in California is just mindboggling, so many greedy, selfish people there who think they can get ahead in life through means of usury. I remember all the homes/houses that rented with washer/dryer hkps, the landlords would install coin operated machines and make the tenants pay to do their laundry and every month the landlord would stop by to collect the coins. We're now renting a two bedroom house for $450 a month, we've lived here for two years and our rent has never increased, and we have washer/dryer hkps with our own set of washer and dryer. We don't have to pay to park where we live, we don't have to have renters insurance or pay for water/garbage/sewage. Why can't the greedy S.O#$%$ of California implement the same honest Pholosophy so others don't have to forego a home and live on the street?

Wall street wants people to get by on less. Very small rental units just may be the answer.

If they are renting the storage unit,and only using it to sleep. Leave them alone. Better than getting murdered on the street.

Maybe Jerry should make should the taxpayers money goes to Americans who need help rather than illegals who hate us and have no respect for our laws.

Hard times require hard solutions. Apparently, the economics on the ground favor the use of storage units as temporary housing at present commercial rates for monthly rent. Places like that already have dumpsters for trash/garbage. Most are metal or concrete and so, aren't especially fire hazards and could be easily vermin proofed. I have to wonder what it would cost to outfit some of the present storage with plumbing? I thought most already had at least one electric circuit--for lighting, right? Maybe you carefully limit numbers and only raise the rent $100/month. Maybe a few thousand folks in each of various states could get by with this for a few years, pending a better economy--not really advocating just going along with a trend and wondering what might work. That vs streets, parks, open fields, abandoned buildings, under overpasses...I wonder?

Uncle Bob's... a gated community!?!?

... seriously though, where else can someone of insufficient means find a safe place to store their belongings and sleep undisturbed? Some units even have electricity. If they are keeping things tidy and not causing a fuss, then the city and facility management should just let them be. Its not like its their first choice!

62 year old man is not my idea of a senior citizen.

I think it is a good solution to a rising problem, just install a series of communal toilets and showers. It will adequately house those in need at a very low cost, and will be easier to protect them from criminal elements.

It has a roof and u do what u have to. I lived in the elements for 6 months No roof, no running water, heat or air during Desert Shield/Storm

A lot of homeless avoid shelters because they like to maintain their independence.

Just going over the numbers of the available units for homeless people is appalling. Storage units seem to be the most logical solution. Banks were bailed out and down the price of gas is over four dollars a gallon. Unemployment is over 20% because with the government is not counting are the people who have given up. If I had a choice of living in a rest stop along the highway or the safety of the storage. What would you do. The grind chronically unemployed are middle-aged men who have been replaced by cheaper , younger workers.This is going to get worse before it gets better. What are you going to do?

The pols preach small business is the key to our economy ills. Invest in storage facilities today, beat the big investor rush

The occupy group was happy living in tents. So what's wrong with living in a storage unit.