Oprah's Segment On Sacramento

John in Oklahoma City writes:

Hey Marc,

I'm sitting here watching Nightline--no, actually, Oprah--and there was a report about several tent cities in the vicinity of Sacramento. Are things really that bad out there? It's strange here in Oklahoma; so far there have been no real repercussions of the national/worldwide economic collapse. Perhaps it is that the economy here is still based on oil revenue and government jobs--hard to say. Anyway, I wonder if we're kind of like the castle inhabitants in Poe's Masque of the Red Death....

John

I reply:

Hi John:

It’s interesting. There are several earthen embankments in the vicinity of downtown Sacramento that serve as walls between settled middle-class communities, and a variety of old and new homeless communities.

One big wall (30 ft high) is the Union Pacific rail line that passes by the Blue Diamond Almond Plant about ¾ mile north of where I am right now. Beyond that wall are the levees of the American River (more big walls), near where it runs into the Sacramento River.

Homeless communities have been in these areas long before I got here in 1990. At first, coming from Salt Lake City, I was shocked at the size of the encampments, but as time passed, I got used to them (I suppose we can get used to almost anything).

My understanding of the Oprah segment was that she focused on the tent city near the Blue Diamond Almond plant. It may indeed be bigger than it used to be, but since it is on the other side of the railroad embankment, I don’t really know. (Since 2006, after working with Adam, I kind of got homeless fatigue and stopped paying as much attention to the situation.)

When I first moved here, I used to ride my bike through the Blue Diamond area to get to the bike trail along the American River, and at that time it was a homeless camp AND also a cocaine bazaar. Now, with the influx of new homeless, the drug aspect may be muted and the homeless aspect heightened.

Driving through the Northgate/ Del Paso corridor last week, which crosses between the levees of the American River at ground level, it’s true, I’ve never seen so many tents there, even in 1990.

In November, I took my car for windshield repair from work to a shop on the other side of the Union Pacific rail line embankment. Being now without transportation, I walked back to work, and since there are few corridors through the embankment, I ended up on foot in the 12th Street underpass, not too far from the Blue Diamond Almond Plant, and very near several homeless soup kitchens and support facilities. I was shocked how many people were on the street, generally loitering near the underpass, mostly because they had no where else to go, really. I felt conspicuous, but the discomfort was mitigated by the families. In 1990, mostly men were in these camps. Now, lots of families are in these camps too.

Ignorant as always of my immediate surroundings, but grateful to Oprah for shedding some light on what is happening ¾ mile north of here,

Marc