State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable tents for millions of displaced people.[1]
Informal tent cities may be set up without authorization by homeless people or protesters.
Tent cities set up by homeless people may be similar to shanty towns, which are informal settlements in which the buildings are made from scrap building materials.
Shoddy and lower-condition tent cities may be considered skid rows or a facet of them.
In the military, the term "tent city" usually refers to temporary living quarters erected on deployed military bases, such as those found in Bosnia and Herzegovina or Iraq. Depending on the branch of service and the length of time the tent city has been in place, the living space may be equipped with most modern amenities. For sanitary reasons, military tent cities place toilet, shower, and laundry facilities at least 50 feet (15m) from living quarters. Also, tents are typically divided into clusters of 8–10 to prevent the rapid spread of fire, which is of utmost concern because of the tent and bedding materials.
Environmental disasters
Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005, the term has been used to describe temporary housing sites set up for Gulf Coast residents who were left homeless by the storm. Some of the tents that were built by Seabees and funded by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are wooden structures covered by tents. With the exception of indoor plumbing, most of the tents have heat, air, and lights. The tent city can hold as many as 250 occupants. Displaced residents are only expected to stay for three to six months.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada's largest city, was also home to its own "Tent City" until September 2002, when the residents of Tent City were evicted by the owner of the property, Home Depot.[2] It was situated in the downtown core of Toronto, near the waterfront, and was home to hundreds of people who were homeless. Toronto introduced rent supplement programs in the following year (2002–2004) by which 115 residents were given access to mainstream apartment units. Journalist Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall voluntarily abandoned his middle class lifestyle to live in Tent City for a year. He detailed his experiences in his 2005 book, Down to This: Squalor and Splendour in a Big-city Shantytown.[3]
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the city also witnessed a revival of tent cities in its public parks.
Full-time tent living can be a way to save money, but has a number of challenges one of the main ones is finding an appropriate location and community. [4] One alternative to tents that has been advocated, are tiny or mobile tiny homes, in the 21st century. Tiny homes were used for disaster relief housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2006, where the benefits over tents was demonstrated.[5] In the 21st century the number of homeless as an absolute number has gone down, but there was an increase in tent cities in large cities.[6]
Tent cities have also formed from mass protests and are not always related to homelessness.[7]
Some cities have sponsored Tent cities in a publicly organized way to cut down on homeless people, [8] while in other cases ad-hoc formed tent cities have been torn down by cities.[9]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tent cities have long been a part of Philadelphia's history.[10][11] The steadily growing number of encampments have been passed down by multiple administrations—from Mayor Wilson Goode (1984 to 1992) to the present-day Mayor Kenney (2015–present). The collection of encampments developed for multiple reasons. Some started as contained protests for affordable housing, others were attempts to establish more secure living through a developed community.
When assessing the number of homeless people in Philadelphia, the Office of Homeless Services counted 958 people living in the streets. Non-profit organizations like Project H.O.M.E have made efforts to help by, "providing housing, opportunities for employment, medical care, and education to homeless and low-income persons in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."
Camp Hope is an alternative transitional living project, for the homeless, in the form of camping. It is located on the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope (MVCH) campus and is an alliance of agencies that address homelessness in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The tent city can house 50 people that would otherwise be on the streets, providing them a safe place to seek direct services, healthcare, and find jobs and housing. Camp Hope has provided the homeless with the opportunity to be right next to all the Direct Services the agencies on the MVCH campus provide.[13]
The camp was founded in November 2011 with temporary permission from the city of Las Cruces. The camp was supposed to disband in March 2012, but there was no funding available to build another shelter and the City Council stated that the tent city benefited the city.
In 2013, with help from engineering students from New Mexico State University, the site was rezoned as a planned unit development (PUD) that sanctioned a permanent campground along with a number of other uses on the non-profit's campus.[14]
Second Chance Village: Akron, Ohio
This service club made of homeless and formerly homeless members was founded by Ryan Scanlon and once laid their tent city operations in the rear of private property owned by Sage Lewis LLC in the Middlebury area of Akron, Ohio, from January 2017 until January 2019. It was known as Second Chance Village and still exists operating as a nonprofit service club organization in secret locations splintered amongst the cityscape.
The New York Times[15] wrote about this village, describing the homeless-run culture where the homeless created a drug-free, alcohol-free community with security officers and a democratically elected tri-council. All services were run by the homeless. These included laundry, showers, computer lab, clothing room and food pantry.
Akron City Council rejected Mr. Lewis's request for a zoning exception on an 8-to-4 vote in September 2018.
All tents were forced to be removed by January 5, 2019.[16]
Homelessness in California is a serious issue, if going by the per capita rate in 2020 of homelessness which ranks third in the US behind New York and Hawaii. 0.4% or more of Californians are homeless, and most major cities have homeless populations hovering around 0.5–1% of the city's population. This includes both sheltered and unsheltered homeless. Tent cities are prevalent in Tenderloin, San Francisco and Skid Row, Los Angeles.
The BBC did a news story,[17][18][19] which talked about how the causes of the crisis in the U.S. economy has forced many people, who used to own their own homes, to now live in tents.
AlterNet published a story[20] in 2009 about the mainstream media finally "discovering" the homeless situation in Sacramento.
Minneapolis experienced the emergence and growth of homeless encampments in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and resulting unrest, in mid 2020. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board had an experimental process to permit homeless encampments on city park property. Homeless encampments appeared at 44 park sites during the summer months.[21] The park board closed all camps on January 7, 2021, and discontinued permits.[21][22][23]
St. Petersburg, Florida
In late December 2006, homeless people formed an impromptu tent city on the St. Vincent de Paul property in the 1400 block of Fourth Avenue N. of St. Petersburg in Saint Petersburg, Florida when dozens of homeless moved off of public land across the street from the society. In early January 2007, city officials noted city codes that prohibit living in tents and gave the society one week to evict the occupants of the tent city.[24]
Olympia, Washington
Camp Quixote, a homeless encampment began as a protest movement of homeless people and homeless advocates against criminalizing "anti-social" legislation that was passed by the city in January 2007—specifically referring to the ordinance restricting people from sitting on sidewalks. City officials ordered the camp to disband. The Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation offered the encampment sanctuary on its property, being familiar with the Seattle faith-based network of homeless encampments. What began as a protest surrounding homelessness quickly became a faith community protest. The church community protested the city's insistence of dismantling the community on the grounds that churches maintain a specific land use right that allows them to offer sanctuary to the poor (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA). Eventually, the adversarial protest turned to negotiation with local municipalities, with new ordinances condoning Camp Quixote with specific regulations and a ninety-day limit; option to move to other faith communities' property. Because of the ardent support of a volunteer team PANZA, the tent city is soon to be transformed into permanent supportive housing, Quixote Village - winter 2013.
Homeless people have long resorted to seeking shelter in tents, but these communities are one of the first known to be organized by a sponsoring organization (a partnership between the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort and Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League (SHARE/WHEEL)), and are one of the first in a major U.S. city to be largely accepted by local governments. Contrary to some stereotypes regarding the homeless, many residents of Tent City are employed, mostly in temporary or day labor jobs, but have insufficient income to obtain more permanent housing.[25]
The original Tent City and Tent City 2, both created in the late 1990s, were created illegally and opposed by the City of Seattle. After being tolerated for some time, they were eventually forced to shut down. In March 2002, as a result of a legal battle, city attorney Tom Carr and SHARE/WHEEL attorney Ted Hunter signed a court ordered consent decree with SHARE, allowing Tent City only on private land (by invitation) and setting standards for its operation.
Based on the consent decree Tent City 3 was created and rotates around the Metro Seattle Core. Tent City 4 was created in May 2004 as an attempt to expand beyond the consent decree and use public land and resources, something the consent decree does not allow. This attempt was unsuccessful and Tent City 4 has since been relocated to eastern King County where it is church sponsored. Tent City rules do not allow drug or alcohol use, and evicts anyone caught stealing or committing other crimes within the camp. Tent City 3 stayed an average of three weeks at each encampment before 2004, while Tent City 4 has stayed in place for as long as 100 days. Tent City 3's stays have since then averaged between 60 and 90 days, with 90 days or so being a common length of stay. Cities have been adopting code amendments that limit stays to 60–90 days.[citation needed]
Another homeless encampment, unaffiliated with Tent City 3 and 4, lived in donated, mainly fuchsia, tents at the University Congregational United Church of Christ in Seattle's University District[26] for several months ending March 5, 2009, at which time it moved to the suburb of Bryn Mawr south of Seattle.[27] According to[28] homeless advocates, residents criticized Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels for continuously clearing out homeless encampments, and named their encampment "Nickelsville". The church itself, out of respect for recent efforts by Mayor Nickels, did not use the "Nickelsville" name in referring to the encampment.[29]
While on the road in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 2009, Democracy Now! covered a story[30] about Seattle's Nickelsville. They also covered a story about the police raid on Nickelsville the previous day, March 29, where 24 people were arrested.[31]
Tent City 4 (TC4) is a homeless encampment of up to 100 people created in May 2004 in eastern King County outside of Seattle. Residents are adult men and women, although there is a provision for quartering minor dependents in emergency situations.
Transition Park, Camden, New Jersey
A community of 50 to 150 people had taken up residence in Camden, New Jersey, nestled on the right side of the ramp of I676 West exit 5A. Although attempts have been made to find housing for the population, no one in the community has been placed. Transition Park's Mayor and City Council continued to protect their community and seek medical attention for those in need. In May 2010, residents were forced out of the city and into local missions.
Under the leadership of Amir Khan, the pastor of Solid Rock Worship Center in Clementon, NJ, and founder of the Nehemiah Group, a faith-based nonprofit organization that Khan and his son Micah run, 54 residents of Tent City were moved to the Wingate by Wyndham Hotel in Mount Laurel in May 2010 with the help of volunteers. Pastor Khan asked his congregation and local business members for help and was able to raise $250,000 to provide some homeless people of Camden's Tent City with housing and human services for at least one year.
Although these homeless men and women were initially moved to a hotel and received a spa treatment upon arrival, months later drugs and alcohol are taking a toll on their adjustment to life in their new environments. On a positive side, Lorenzo Banks, the ex-self-appointed Mayor of Tent City and James Boggs, another Tent City leader got jobs providing homeless outreach for Volunteers of America-Delaware Valley in Collingswood, NJ. Although several people also enrolled in community college, mental illness, addiction issues and a lack of affordable housing illustrate the road blocks to a healthy life for Tent City residents over the long-term.
By September 13, 2010, 19 of the original 54 were removed from the "hotel program" and many former Tent City residents continue to move from one street corner or overpass to another, continuing the homelessness issue in Camden.[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]
Potomac Mills, Woodbridge, Virginia
Since c. 2003, there exists a 10 acres (4.0ha) tent city at Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Virginia, adjacent to the Potomac Mills mall. It is tolerated by the private landlord. In 2018, part of the residents were directed to leave.[41]
The Saudi Arabian government's Ministry of Hajj has set up a permanent tent city to house Muslim pilgrims in Mina, where the ritual Stoning of the Devil takes place as part of the overall Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.[44] A tent city is also set up at Mount Arafat, another essential stop during the Hajj.[45] Because up to four million pilgrims may be performing the Hajj annually, the tent cities are densely inhabited with 20–40 people per tent. As such, fire and disease outbreaks were constant concerns. Since the late 1990s, Saudi authorities have started using fireproof tents to reduce the risks of a major fire.
Klondikers tent camp at lake Bennett, Canada, May 1898
Klondike and Nome Gold Rushes
During the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska and Canada 1896–1899 several tent camps were built along the routes to the gold fields especially on the popular Dyea/Skagway route where it met Lake Bennett and Lake Lindeman the head of Yukon River. At the Nome Gold Rush, between 1899 and 1909, a tent city sprung up that was 30 miles long, on the beaches and on the treeless coast of Nome, Alaska between Cape Rodney and Cape Nome.
Great Depression
During the Great Depression a number of tent cities and shanty towns named Hoovervilles emerged in the United States and some other countries on the outskirts of towns, newspapers used as covers were referred to as “Hoover blankets.”[46][47]
A tent city was erected in 1920 by the Red Cross in Forest Park, St. Louis, so city families could get away from the August heat. (Drawing by Marguerite Martyn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)
Fayette County, Tennessee
Tent City in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States, was an encampment for displaced blacks who were removed from their homes and blacklisted from buying amenities as retaliation for registering to vote in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement.
On May 12, 1977, a tent city was erected and maintained for a period of more than 60 days by a group of several dozen protesters on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, United States. The protesters, led by the May 4 Coalition but also including community members and local clergy, were attempting to prevent the university from erecting a gymnasium annex on part of the site where the Kent State shootings occurred in May 1970, which they believed would alter and obscure that historical event. Law enforcement finally brought the tent city to an end on July 12, 1977, after the forced removal and arrest of 193 people. The event gained national press coverage and the issue was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court.[48][49][50]
Music
Chicago band Patience Gloria's second album Consequences David has a song titled "Tent City Nation" that addresses the subject.
Bolton Hall, activist who established a tent city in New York city in 1908
The area at music festivals for attendees to set up their tents for overnight stays is often called "Tent City".
Protests
Occupy tent city in Halifax, Nova Scotia (2011)
Occupy movement was an international protest movement that featured tent cities set up in parks in some cities.
Maricopa County Jail modification
Prior to the election of SheriffJoe Arpaio in 1993, the prisoner population in Maricopa County Jail, Arizona, the fourth largest jail system in the world,[51] exceeded the maximum number of inmates allowed in its facilities. Prisoners were routinely released from custody prior to completing their sentence due to the overcrowding. In a study conducted in 1993 it was estimated that construction of a new facility would cost approximately $70,000,000.[citation needed] Sheriff Arpaio, concerned about the cost of a new facility and reasoning that military tents were good enough for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Gulf War, ordered that tent jails be constructed using inmate labor.[52] It consisted of Korean War–era tents donated by the United States armed forces, and a 50 feet (15m)observation tower with a vacancy sign mounted on the front. The final cost of the project was approximately $100,000 and it was capable of housing over 2,400 inmates. Tent City was closed in October 2017.[53]
A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people "on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or forgotten by society. A skid row may be anything from an impoverished urban district to a red-light district to a gathering area for people experiencing homelessness or drug addiction. In general, skid row areas are inhabited or frequented by impoverished individuals and also people who are addicted to drugs. Urban areas considered skid rows are marked by high vagrancy, dilapidated buildings, and drug dens, as well as other features of urban blight. Used figuratively, the phrase may indicate the state of a poor person's life.
The Chinatown–International District is a neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the center of the city's Asian American community. Within the district are the three neighborhoods known as Chinatown, Japantown and Little Saigon, named for the concentration of businesses owned by people of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese descent, respectively. The geographic area also once included Manilatown.
Tent City 4 is a homeless encampment of up to 100 persons operated by homeless residents and sponsored by 501(c)(3) organizations Seattle Housing and Resources Effort (SHARE) and Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League (WHEEL). The camp was created in May 2004 and limits itself to places of worship in eastern King County outside of Seattle. Minors are not allowed in Tent City 4, although there is a provision for emergency situations. Residents may use their own tents or community tents that are segregated by gender. Dumpsters, portable toilets and a shower, paid for by SHARE, are provided to address sanitation concerns. In order to control access to the encampment, there is only one entry/exit to the camp that is guarded at all times.
In the Seattle King County area, there were estimated to be 11,751 homeless people living on the streets or in shelters. On January 24, 2020, the count of unsheltered homeless individuals was 5,578. The number of individuals without homes in emergency shelters was 4,085 and the number of homeless individuals in transitional housing was 2,088, for a total count of 11,751 unsheltered people.
The Jungle, officially known as the East Duwamish Greenbelt, is a greenbelt on the western slope of Beacon Hill in Seattle, Washington that is known for its homeless encampments and crime. The Jungle consists of 150 acres (61 ha) underneath and along an elevated section of Interstate 5 between South Dearborn Street and South Lucile Street. An assessment counted 201 tents and estimate of more than 400 people in the area prior to a shooting on January 26, 2016, that increased scrutiny and a sweep of the greenspace. The area continues to be used by the homeless as of 2024.
Occupy Canada was a collective of peaceful protests and demonstrations that were part of the larger Occupy Together movement which first manifested in the financial district of New York City with Occupy Wall Street, and subsequently spread to over 900 cities around the world.
The Occupy movement spread to many other cities in the United States and worldwide beginning with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City in September 2011. The movement sought to advance social and economic justice and different forms of democracy but each local group varied in specific aims. The demonstrations and encampment in New York City spread to other major and smaller cities. Some camps lasted through 2012. What follows is an alphabetical, non-chronological summary of Occupy encampments in the United States.
The San Francisco Bay Area comprises nine northern California counties and contains five of the ten most expensive counties in the United States. Strong economic growth has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, but coupled with severe restrictions on building new housing units, it has resulted in a statewide housing shortage which has driven rents to extremely high levels. The Sacramento Bee notes that large cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles both attribute their recent increases in homeless people to the housing shortage, with the result that homelessness in California overall has increased by 15% from 2015 to 2017. In September 2019, the Council of Economic Advisers released a report in which they stated that deregulation of the housing markets would reduce homelessness in some of the most constrained markets by estimates of 54% in San Francisco, 40 percent in Los Angeles, and 38 percent in San Diego, because rents would fall by 55 percent, 41 percent, and 39 percent respectively. In San Francisco, a minimum wage worker would have to work approximately 4.7 full-time jobs to be able to spend less than 30% of their income on renting a two-bedroom apartment.
Homelessness in New Zealand has been linked to the general issue of lack of suitable housing. The homeless population is generally measured through the country's census and by universities and other academic centres. In 2018, it was estimated that 3,624 people in New Zealand were living without shelter, 7,929 were in temporary accommodation, 30,171 were sharing accodation, and 60,399 were living in uninhabitable buildings. Homelessness in New Zealand has traditionally been reduced by the provision of state housing, similar to Germany and other developed countries.
In 2016, a report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed that the U.S. state of Oregon had an estimated homeless population of 13,238 with about 60.5% of these people still unsheltered. In 2017, these numbers were even higher. As of January 2017, Oregon has an estimated 13,953 individuals experiencing homelessness. Of this homeless population, 1,083 are family households, 1,251 are veterans, 1,462 are unaccompanied young adults, and 3,387 are individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. As of 2022, 17,959 people total experienced homelessness in Oregon, with 2,157 individuals being youth under 18, 6,671 being female, 10,931 being male, and 131 being transgender. Also among the 17,959 total homeless in 2022, 15,876 were Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino, 2,083 were Hispanic/Latino, 13,960 were white, 1,172 were Black, African American, or African, 101 were Asian or Asian American, 880 were Native American, and those of multiple race were 1,619. Oregon has seen an increase in its total homeless population consistently every year since 2010. In last three years specifically Oregon has seen a 98.5% increase 2021-2022, 22.5% increase 2020-2021, and a 13.1% increase 2019-2020.
We Heart Seattle (WHS), formerly We Heart Downtown Seattle and incorporated as I Heart Downtown Seattle in October 2020, is a volunteer organization responding to trash and homelessness in Seattle. Its founder and executive director is Andrea Suarez, a resident of Seattle's Belltown neighborhood. The group organizes volunteer trash cleanups in public parks in which homeless people have established camps, primarily through a public Facebook group and Facebook events. The group had a short-lived affiliate, We Heart Portland, which performed similar work in Portland, Oregon.
The U.S. city of Minneapolis featured officially and unofficially designated camp sites in city parks for people experiencing homelessness that operated from June 10, 2020, to January 7, 2021. The emergence of encampments on public property in Minneapolis was the result of pervasive homelessness, mitigations measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota, local unrest after the murder of George Floyd, and local policies that permitted encampments. At its peak in the summer of 2020, there were thousands of people camping at dozens of park sites across the city. Many of the encampment residents came from outside of Minneapolis to live in the parks. By the end of the permit experiment, four people had died in the city's park encampments, including the city's first homicide victim of 2021, who was stabbed to death inside a tent at Minnehaha Park on January 3, 2021.
The Jungle was a large homeless encampment located in San Jose, California. It was located off Story Road and along Coyote Creek, in an area called Coyote Meadow, and consisted of various makeshift dwellings, shacks, tree houses and tents on around 75 acres (30 ha) of land. During the time of its existence, it was often considered to be one of the largest homeless encampments in the United States.
Mass. and Cass, also known as Methadone Mile or Recovery Road, is an area in Boston, Massachusetts, located at and around the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue. Due to its concentration of neighborhood services providing help, the area around Mass. and Cass has long attracted a large number of people struggling with homelessness and drug addiction, especially after the closure of facilities on Long Island in Boston Harbor. It has been characterized as "the epicenter of the region's opioid addiction crisis".
The COVID-19 pandemic made homelessness in Toronto more visible, due to the rise of encampments in public parks. However, homelessness in Canada had been an issue of widespread concern long before the pandemic's arrival. A 2016 report found that at least 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness in a year, and 35,000 Canadians experience it on a given night. A Nanos survey found in 2020 that 72% of Canadians believed it was urgent to work toward ending homelessness in Canada. A 2020 report from the Wellesley Institute argues that there were disproportionately higher rates of evictions in Black neighborhoods, and that Black residents were among the worst hit by COVID-19. As part of its stay at home order in March 2020, the Ontario government instated a ban on evictions, however this was lifted with the emergency order in June 2020. The Ontario government however made evictions easier, according to some critics, due to its passage of Bill 184 which allowed landlords to bypass the Landlord and Tenant Board. One advocacy group deemed the cascading effects of Bill 184 'a bloodbath of evictions'. By December 2020, Toronto tenants were calling for a reinstatement of the moratorium on evictions. The crisis conditions of the pandemic lead to an increase in organizing against what many homelessness advocates deemed to be social murder of the city's unhoused. This ranged from legal lawsuits against the city's shelter system to calls for a city plan that would address the large numbers of unhoused people camping outside, to suits against encampment evictions, to large scale protests against the clearings of public parks. The Covid-19 encampments are best understood as emerging out of a longer history of urban informality in Toronto.
Hazelnut Grove is an organized homeless community located in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2015, and since its inception, has survived several attempts to disband or relocate the community. It is recognized and supported by the city government.
There were six transitional housing programs created under the Wu administration in Boston in January 2022. Mayor Michelle Wu's administration cleared a tent encampment of several hundred people living in the area known locally as the Mass and Cass, and created six low-threshold, transitional housing sites to divert people displaced from the encampment. The transitional housing sites created were the Roundhouse Hotel, Willow, Dorm One, EnVision Hotel, The Cottages at Shattuck, and The Pine Street Inn.
A homeless encampment sweep is the forced removal of homeless people and their property from a public area. It is a frequently-used strategy to mitigate issues related to homelessness. Often called "encampment resolutions" or "clean-ups" by local governments, they are alternatively labeled "sweeps" by advocacy groups. The term's use ranges from referring to routine sanitation cleanups, which displace homeless residents for a few hours, to the permanent dislocation of individuals or communities.
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