While people are focusing on Portland, Oregon...there's a growing crisis in many cities all over the United States that I saw recently while traveling through many states. Most of it seems related to an overall red-hot housing market in the past decade that's causing increasing homelessness & drug use because the poor are getting squeezed into the streets... Regardless if it's a Republican, Democrat, state, or city... It does not matter who sits in the Oval Office as President of the United States. Has anybody here at Elitetrader.com recently traveled to Nashville, Tennesse ??? I have and I'm shocked there are still idiots out there that think this is a Democrat problem & creation that only occurs in Democrat strongholds. I first saw the homeless population in the nearby rural areas I was driving through...as I near Nashville...homelessness was increasing. My teenagers and I could see it on the streets as we were going to visit the veterans military cemetery in Nashville. It is a growing homelessness & drug problem in the U.S. and it is also not color blind. Images below from an online article that was accurate about what is causing the problem. Nashville, Tennessee Nashville's are partially caused by its red-hot housing market leading to more and more residential developments. Located mere feet from new apartment and condo developments, were homeless encampments at Brookmeade, Wentworth-Caldwell, and Jefferson Street are now more noticeable than ever... Lawmakers and state government have largely stood in the way of Nashville implementing affordable housing solutions, led partially by the influence of the Tennessee Association of Realtors, the largest lobbying group in the state. https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/03/27/what-is-going-on-at-metro-nashvilles-homeless-division/ Note: Last Republican mayor in Nashville, Tennessee was in the 60's...I think. But the homelessness in the nearby rural and suburbs are Republican strongholds for several decades that has been putting people into the streets. It results into pushing these people into Nashville. The Tennessee Association of Realtors lobbying group is knee deep into the politics for the state of Tennessee. The good if any...homelessness among Tennessee military veterans has been decreasing. ------- “Every community is different. The housing markets are different, the access to health care and behavioral health services are different. Wages as compared to housing are different. So it’s likely that if you go to one rural part of the country, there might be one story to tell about the loss of economic opportunity and jobs to pay a livable wage. In another area, maybe there’s a dramatic increase in the cost of housing,” Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the Daily Yonder. He said - Housing is simply not affordable to people. wrbtrader