[pullquote]When Virginia State Police cleared out the town at the request of VDOT and State Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William), it did so ostensibly to improve safety, since the town was near a highway.[/pullquote] The state of Virginia demolished a tent city much like Nickelsville in Dale City, VA, last week, leaving some 80 homeless residents with literally nowhere to go. The ostensible reason for the demolition was to improve safety, since the tent city was near a highway.

According to Greater Greater Washington,

The town wasn't on any maps, and it didn't have a mayor, but it was a town. For its 80-some residents, it was home. The problem: The town was made up tents, and was lived-in by people who would otherwise be homeless. It was, for all intents and purposes, a shantytown.

When Virginia State Police cleared out the town at the request of VDOT and State Delegate Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William), it did so ostensibly to improve safety, since the town was near a highway. In so doing, Northern Virginia becomes merely the latest example of a widespread trend where shantytowns pop up, and the government clears them out.

Since, naturally, that solves the problem of homelessness.

In Seattle, the mayor and city council are debating where to locate a "semipermanent" homeless encampment to augment itinerant tent cities like Nickelsville.