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Homeless Creation, Tennessee Style
Hamilton County DA Empties Motel in a Flash
Because 4 sex offenders lived in the Budgetel Motel on the outskirts of Chattanooga, Hamilton TN County District Attorney Coty Wamp decreed everyone would have to leave on November 16, 2022. Where to? How? Not her problem.
The 400 or so people, including 71 school children and countless babies and toddlers, staying at this no-tell-motel weren’t there on vacation. They turned to this unenviable housing arrangement out of desperate necessity. Occupants, as common across the U.S., lost housing and moved into the only place they could find — a motel that took a hefty rate, $1,000–1,400 a month, and didn’t ask about their credit history.
Unbeknownst to many, cheap motels subbing for “housing” has been on the upswing since the early ’80s when federal affordable housing investments halted. The social havoc this government disinvestment wreaked escaped attention, except for those needing housing assistance. The consequences exist on the outskirts of every town, and in the recesses of metropolitan areas. Hotels and motels, previously used by vacationers, business travelers, and trysters, have morphed into pricy, seedy 21st…
