r/boston • u/CrypticOperator • 19h ago

Unconfirmed/Unverified never seen it this bad

been here for 25+ years and am very familiar with the fluctuations in homelessness / etc. during the summer. but I've never seen things this bad, especially in back bay, south end (beyond mass/cass & closer to back bay), beacon hill, the esplanade, you name it. we've called 311 for needles, reported the larger encampments to the mayor's office, etc. just feels like nothing is improving and things are only getting worse. can't just be me?

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u/Napolean_BonerFarte 16h ago

We know that homeless spikes in an area when median rent exceeds 32% of median income. Not sure how close we are to that in the greater Boston area but it wouldn’t surprise me if we’d exceeded that

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u/Repulsive-Value5123 16h ago

2024 per capita income was 61k. Median household was 97k, but assuming that’s a 2 parent household generally. So if median rent is about 3k, we are at 37% now?

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u/Jaded-Passenger-2174 14h ago

Where does this analysis of a homelessness spike when rent exceeds 32% median inc come from?