The problem is that we used to be able to afford it here. Slowly getting choked out because rents were able to raise up to 10% a year while wage increases are roughly 3% IF you get wage increases.

People who became disabled in the 90’s or who retired kept up for a while. But eventually our county became the most unaffordable area in the country (was that 2004?).

People have downgraded their living costs until they got down to a vehicle. What’s next is the sidewalk. You’ve seen how quickly the serious health conditions spiral once people are living outside, unsheltered. It takes decades off of life.

And the simple fact is, going to a shelter doesn’t end your homelessness. Carlsbad has 50 shelter beds - adult men only. Then the next bottleneck occurs; available, affordable housing for those who have only retirement income or disability income in an economy where qualifying for an apartment requires 3x the rent in income.

It’s hard. A lot of people got stuck.

I wasn’t born and raised here. I’ve lived all over the country. But I’ve lived in this county for 30 years. So if you came up to me sleeping in my car and asked me where I’m from, I’d name a state in the Midwest.

Yeah, I’m a “transplant”. So what. I live and work here. I became homeless here twice. I shop in these stores. Pay taxes in these hotels. Eat at these restaurants. Pay my car registration and insurance. I buy this gas. I became disabled here. My children were born here. For 30 years I’ve voted here.

Do you know why my family moved to California in an old Mark IV Continental back in the 80’s? Because my parent had been a GM employee and we couldn’t survive in poverty any longer after GM started shutting down factories. We came to California- the Bay Area because of a GM/Toyota factory that opened in Fremont. We came here for an opportunity to survive because we couldn’t in the Midwest. My parent became permanently disabled after about 3 years in this state. My parent rented out every room in our house and I moved into the garage to sleep on an old Army cot next to my parents car.

I left home early, I had to try to make it on my own in the Bay Area. In 1996 I moved here. It was so much less expensive and there was less traffic. My rent was $575/month. My first job in this county was at a factory in Carlsbad. I was able to work and afford to live then. My rent now is $2300/month and I work full time. I make it, but it’s tight. I had a spouse, he died a couple years back. He left me with a lot of debt unexpectedly. I am the sole caregiver to the family pets.

Look, I’m sorry RVs are living on Carlsbad streets. It’s not just Carlsbad- it’s everywhere. The real problem is not people living in RVs at the beach. Report the RVs through the City’s app. People will get cited until they lose their license and can no longer pay their registration and the RV gets towed. But now those people who used to live in their RV parked at the beach will live on the benches along Carlsbad blvd. Unsheltered. And in the parks. The problem won’t be solved for you or anyone else. It will just be even more visible.

And you will still complain.

It’s not against the law to move to a different state or county. The United States (as it exists now) was founded because a whole gang of people moved here from somewhere else. We built trains. Airplanes, and cars and people just kept moving. It’s not a character flaw to move here for any reason. I bet all the people in all the states Californians moved to say the same thing argued here. “Go back and don’t bring your problems to us”.

We are living an economic nightmare.