Homeless tent city sprouts in Hillsborough

Eight months ago, Richard Shuster moved into what he calls his "gated community" - so named for the sagging gate between thickets leading to his camp site near Interstate 75. Before he lost his job as a welder, Shuster, 59, had a car and a rented room. Now he joins others like him, whose tents can be found in the woods in eastern Hillsborough County. The numbers are hard to pin down, but the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County thinks the number of homeless has been climbing in recent years. And they are pushing ever deeper into the eastern suburbs, officials say. Not long ago, the area was Hillsborough's boomtown, the epicenter of the housing bender. Then the housing market collapsed, restaurants closed, and skilled workers found themselves scrounging for a piece of a shrinking day labor pool. The homes they rented or owned fell into foreclosure. Their landlords, once forgiving over a late rent check, now resort to eviction.