Housing trouble in paradise

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Hawaii has the highest rate of homelessness in the United States, at 487 per 100,000 people, according to federal statistics.

Although Hawaii is known for its $15 billion annual tourism industry, the prevalence of homelessness has been evident since the early 2000s, but the seriousness of the matter took years to become a full-fledged public policy issue.

Despite improving economies in the continental states since the recession ended in 2012, years of growing housing costs, low wages and limited availability of property have created a monstrous problem in paradise that sent the percentage of homeless people higher than New York, California and Nevada, according to the Associated Press.

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