There is a federal penitentiary just north of me, about 30 mins away. They release prisoners early. Fill up the vans, drive them to the town next door and dump them all in parking lots near residential areas.

My son left California almost 2 years ago. Rented a room from a dude whose diet consisted of beer, followed by beer. Guy was nuts, tried strangling my son one night. He decided he couldn't make it here and had enough. My son had a friend in Montana, and was offered help and a place to stay up there. In less than 2 days on his road trip to MT, he was hired OVER THE PHONE with a full time job with benefits in MT. He AND his girlfriend. Hired over the phone. After struggling here for so long. Got himself a HOUSE to rent for the same price he paid to rent just a ROOM here. Beautiful up there. Cold as hell in the winter. Brutal.

Since then, we've been planning to leave and have told our other offspring to do the same.