Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Another side of Paris


Paris is not the "city of light" everywhere... far from that. According to a foundation (the Abbe Pierre foundation) there are about 86 000 people without a home, 200 000 living in squats, camps, cheap hotels... 500 000 in temporary housing, 1,9 million in places with no bathroom or shower and 600 000 families have to share the same room. In total more that 3 million people are currently experiencing housing difficulties out of a total of almost 10 million people - including the suburbs (2 142 800 within the strict limits of Paris).

6 comments:

  1. Excellent photo Eric. It's important to show the reality along with the beauty.

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  2. I agree with Michael... and feel so helpless at the same time!

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  3. Isn't it amazing how there can be such horrible problems in one of the wealthiest cities in the world? Minneapolis doesn't see as much homelessness because of the below freezing temperatures during our very long winters. However, cities like NY, Atlanta, Huston, etc. have terrible problems with this.

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  4. thought i'd refer you to:
    http://www.epath.org/blog/index.htm
    L.A.'s Homeless Blog

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  5. Thank you very much for posting that picture, Eric; it's speaks volumes!

    (I totally agree with Michael, by the way.)

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  6. I agree with Michael as well. Paris is one of my favorite cities but there is definately a seedy side to it. I think in the states Paris is portrayed as a city of glamour, wealth, beauty and romance. A friend of mine who is originally from Japan recently moved back to Japan from Paris. He said it just wasn't what he expected. The problem wasn't the city itself (in my opinion) but the fact that his expectations of the city were unrealistic. He was truly surprised to find that all Parisians aren't well off and that people struggle just like everywhere else. He was surprised that there was poverty, crime, racism ect. From what he tells me, in Japan it's portrayed pure elegance. While there is that side to it it's unrealistic to expect anywhere to live up to such high expetations.

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