The 2008 Orange County Community Indicators (pdf) report has been released, and there's some interesting information in it. (I like the display titles at the top of each page/section -- great way to get to the point quickly!)



Here's an interesting update from the Poverty in the OC blog. Looking at the 2008 Orange County Community Indicators (pdf) report, Keith Giles writes:



Orange County is second only to Los Angeles for the largest number of homeless people in the State of California.



The difference is that homelessness in LA County is caused by drug addiction, mental illness or substance abuse related factors.



In Orange County, out of our 35,000 homeless, 80% of them were forced into this lifestyle because of the lack of affordable housing and rent controls.



Think about that. 80% of the people in Orange County who are currently homeless could be living in an apartment anywhere else in the Nation. It's only because of the cost of housing here that they remain homeless.



We make our own homeless.



This means we can also un-make them.



What follows is a further discussion of the data to make the point. Check it out!