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Comment by oblio | Hacker News Reader

How do those distinct lifestyles" match with rising inequality and people having a hard time buying a house or paying rent?

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As far as I know, neither the rate of homelessness has gone up nor homeownership has gone down over the past decade.

The first one wouldn't cover rents increasing but people paying them, albeit struggling.

The second one is a lagging indicator. If lots of people bought their homes when they were cheap and are still alive, it will take time for the real impact to be visible.

Agreed. Though I think that the 'struggling' part creates a lag in both aspects. I think the 'gotta have a side-hustle' trend is a strong indicator of this. I would be interested in seeing the trends in number of people working 2+ jobs (or income streams), population shifts to more affordable areas, and number of disconnects of non-essential services. From experience growing up in a poor family, I know the definition of 'non-essential' can expand greatly as desperation grows.

Edit: Tracking real numbers in homelessness is also just extremely difficult.

https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homeless... It's increased.

> having a hard time buying a house

It's also much harder to get servants in that house. I wonder why...

I don't understand your comment.

if everything is so bad then it should be easier to find someone willing to work. But that's not the case today. Which means life today is probably not that bad.

Inequality is a red herring. Poverty is down.

Have you looked for housing in Columbus, Ohio?

Is homelessness trending down or up? Why?

It's easier than ever to be homeless and it's generally frowned upon to forcefully institutionalize the mentally ill these days.

Wish I'd known that it was difficult to become homeless back when I was. It seemed really easy at the time, all you had to do was get evicted. Not sure how it could be easier now.

I think what they meant was that it's easier than ever to be homeless.

In many places you can't be thrown in jail for being homeless anymore. Many cities have more housing and shelters and free kitchens than ever before. Some places even give you a smartphone and basic plan. Etc.

I’m sure there are plenty of ghost towns with housing sitting empty that could be had for a song too. That probably doesn’t help if your job, family, and friends are somewhere else.

And remote work is more common than ever. Regardless, Columbus, Ohio has a very reasonable cost of living for the salaries available in the region.

Shhhh...don't need any more people here.

Ghost town?

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/intel-...

Nope. How am I supposed to get a job there? How about getting the money together to afford to move? I already live in a "low cost of living" area with less than half the population of Columbus, Ohio. It's still expensive as hell and there isn't a great housing situation.

Well, people are working everyday in Columbus OH.

I'm not from the US nor do I wish to live there, Columbus, Ohio or otherwise.

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