Slab City. Where the Families Who Have Lost Their Homes Go To Live

February 8, 2012

Unemployment and losing their homes have caused many families to move to the desert in Southern California, to a place called “Slab City.” The Slabs is a camp in the Colorado Desert in southeastern California, used by recreational vehicle owners and squatters from across North America. It takes its name from the concrete slabs and pylons that remain from the abandoned World War II Marine barracks Camp Dunlap there. A group of servicemen remained after the base closed, and the place has been inhabited ever since, although the number of residents has declined since the mid 1980s.

Since the housing bubble burst, nearly 4 million American homes have been lost to foreclosure. Now 1.6 million children will be homeless at some time during the year — 38 percent more than at the start of the recession. As CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy explains, unemployment has driven some families to the southern California desert.

And Mittens thinks that the poor have a net? “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.” Mitt, this net looks more like a black hole.

Here is a news story about Slab City.

TAGS:

California Desert, foreclosure, homeless, RV’s, Slab City

9 responses to “Slab City. Where the Families Who Have Lost Their Homes Go To Live”

Jueseppi B.

February 8, 2012 at 9:53 am

Been homeless….never going back. Nice subject. Need more exposure.

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1. She speaks….
  
  February 8, 2012 at 10:10 am
  
  So have I. So have I…..
  
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barkinginthedark

February 8, 2012 at 3:35 pm

congress should be made to spend some nights there. continue…

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1. She speaks….
  
  February 8, 2012 at 3:41 pm
  
  Now, that would be the “just” thing to do.
  
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2. Chris Sheridan
  
  February 8, 2012 at 6:18 pm
  
  Congress should be forced to spend an entire session there without a recess until they get off their dead asses, stop kissing corporate lobbyist asses, put aside partisan grandstanding and gridlock, and get something constructive DONE, and done well enough that there will be no more slab cities in America!
  
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Chris Sheridan

February 8, 2012 at 6:21 pm

Great post Michelle. All Americans need to see this, start paying attention, fully understand why this problem exists, and vote accordingly!

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1. She speaks….
  
  February 8, 2012 at 6:40 pm
  
  I agree… but Slab City apparently has been there for quite some time. There are many who choose to live there…. and like it. However, as in the video story, many are now going there either because they lost their home, or cannot afford to heat it over the winter. A sad state we are in.
  
  Even worse, though, is the fact that many republicans will vote republican purely to vote against Obama – even if it means voting for someone which will make their lives more worse off than now. Fools. I may be a registered Dem, but I vote for whoever has the most common sense, and out best interests in mind. This year – most certainly not any repub’s. Although I have not like a GOP Pres Candidate for many years now. More so on the “lower” level of politics I will vote out of my party.
  
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Don in Massachusetts

February 11, 2012 at 7:16 pm

Homeless: been there, done that. It sucks. Now I have a place to call home, but will be moving soon to bigger and better place, with more amenities. I agree with Barking in the Dark, that members of the House, Senate, governors, mayors that they should some time there, and leave the checkbook and credit cards home, unless they want to help out the people who truly need it…I could go on, but I think you get what I am saying…

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1. She speaks….
  
  February 11, 2012 at 11:17 pm
  
  I gotcha. Been homeless, too. Good to hear you’re moving to a place that will better fit your needs. Being comfortable in my own home is very important to me, as it is to most people.
  
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