The growth in homelessness in the Pacific Northwest has resulted in increasingly large numbers of people living in their cars, campers and trailers. The above photograph from a year ago shows an encampment along a main drag near downtown Olympia, Washington (Wikipedia, 2020).
This stretch of road pictured has since been closed to overnight parking due to a variety of concerns, such as vandalism, sewage dumping and doors opening into bike paths. In addition, last year a speeding car rammed into a parked van (Jenkins, 2019).
It isn’t clear where have all the campers have gone. Many local roads have restrictions against people sleeping in their vehicles overnight.
Meanwhile, the number of Olympians experiencing homelessness has reportedly increased by 35 percent in the last year. In addition, the proportion of people who slept in a vehicle, boat or abandoned building almost doubled (Thurston County, 2020).
RE:SOURCES
- Jenkins, Austin; 2019. “People Arm Themselves As Tensions Rise Over Homeless RVs At Washington’s Capitol.” Oregon Public Broadcasting. Posted November 22; accessed November 5, 2020.
- Thurston County, 2020. “Thurston County 2020 Point in Time Homeless Census Released.” Posted October 2; accessed November 26.
- Wikipedia; 2020. “Olympia, Washington.” Page last modified October 8; accessed November 5.
“Random Shots” is a regular feature that captures sublime and ridiculous moments in American automobile culture. This photo was originally posted November 27, 2019.
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