Understanding the Homelessness Crisis (with data, of course)

This is a topic I've been avoiding for years...but ignoring it doesn't make it go away. Here's how I understand the homelessness crisis, and what the solutions are.

Coming to Lexington, KY on March 3 to keynote the Fayette Alliance's Grow Smart Academy. Register here!

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You should read Greg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern's Homelessness Is A Housing Problem. Link to their website for the book: https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/

Or if you absolutely must, it's available at...THAT place. Be warned, I get a small commission if you use this affiliate link! https://amzn.to/4aNckwO

Resources:

• Albert Saiz, The Geographic Determinants of Housing Supply, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 125, Issue 3, August 2010, Pages 1253–1296, https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2010.125.3.1253

• Cameron Parsell, Maree Petersen, Dennis Culhane, Cost Offsets of Supportive Housing: Evidence for Social Work, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 47, Issue 5, July 2017, Pages 1534–1553, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcw115

• https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-city-homelessness-programs-potential-cuts-alliance-settlement-safe-parking

• https://eastlansinginfo.news/east-lansing-city-council-defers-action-on-measures-critics-say-would-criminalize-homelessness/

• https://thecontributor.org/homelessness-is-lethal-cold-weather-just-makes-it-more-visible/

• https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/

• https://endhomelessness.org/state-of-homelessness/

• https://www.opb.org/article/2025/01/30/portland-voters-survey-homelessness/

• https://endhomelessness.org/reducing-unsheltered-homelessness/what-is-unsheltered-homelessness/

• https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf

• https://www.uwkc.org/news/are-all-homeless-people-drug-addicts/

• https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/?&filter_year=2024&filter_scope=CoC&filter_state=&filter_coc=¤t_page=5

• https://www.sightline.org/2017/10/31/video-cruel-musical-chairs-why-is-rent-so-high/

• https://nlihc.org/gap

• https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/unequal-the-rise-of-a-new-american-oligarchy-and-the-agenda-we-need/

• https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/declining-elasticity-us-housing-supply

• https://www.foxnews.com/media/housing-blue-states-make-difficult-build-red-states-allow-markets-meet-demand-says-nyt-podcast

• https://housingdata.app/metros/Dallas_Fort_Worth_TX_OK

• https://sccinsight.com/2020/02/04/new-mckinsey-report-dives-into-seattle-area-homelessness-crisis/

Images:

• Pueblo Community Health Center By Jeffrey Beall - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=131978135

• Thumbnail image via Getty Images, Credit: Ed Freeman, Creative #: 663366867, License type: Royalty-free, Collection: Stone

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