In 1993, at 24, Jennifer Toth, an intern at The Los Angeles Times, began to research and write the book The Mole People. However, upon the books release there was much skepticism in the fact that the locations she speaks of are not well documented, and a few say that some of the places do not even exist. But since there are no complete maps of the New York underground tunnel system it seems to be more that the truth about the locations was not completely known. Also, some of the homeless explicitly stated that they didn’t want outsiders to know the exact location of the tunnels, for fear of being found. I think Toth does a good job of displaying the vastness of the underground homeless situation. Not only did she befriend many of the people themselves, she also speaks with the directors of various homeless organizations, shelters and soup kitchens, and even the police, Sergeant Henry specifically, who was the leader in the NYCPD’s unit to combat the problem. I think this serves to further extenuate the problem and add to the books credibility, since people are reluctant to believe so called vagabonds and heathens.

I find it very interesting that the ungrounded and aboveground homeless are such different groups within the same sub-culture. The tight knit communities that the homeless underground had seem to be more deeply rooted in a sense of selflessness and greater good for the group not just the person. While, on the other end of the spectrum, the individuals underground seem far more ruthless and selfish that the individual homeless above grounds.

This lead me to wonder which characteristics the homeless in Austin share with the former and latter types. There are many groups of homeless in, Austin, the most familiar of which would presumably be the “Drag Rats.” How do they compare to the homeless in The Mole People? Though there is not an underground tunnel system here as there is in New York, is there a metaphoric underground which the homeless here might be fleeing to? There are many reasons the homeless in New York fled underground, the most broad being their invisibleness on the surface that is reflected in the darkness of the tunnels. Since some feel such a strong connection with these underground spaces, is there a way to truly bring them people topside, to lead a “productive” life? If so, how? What created the bonds that the people had to the tunnel?