I don't think its a depression until we see more Hoovervilles.
It is definitely a problem of what a modern Hooverville looks like.
We have more renter- and home-owner friendly eviction and foreclosure rules, so now tenants and landlords are both hurting. We have also substantially criminalized homelessness, have heavily regulated construction standards for dwelling-places, and have experienced the middle-class-ifying of America. It's not out of avarice that homeless people own cellphones and laptops, it's out of a sense of survival and the desire to improve one's situation.
A Hooverville would be a viable living option for many people in Lansing if it was legal, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm one of them yet (one runs up against the whole "if things were different, they'd be different" phenomenon), but I'm close.
The shelters locally are all full, and have been for a couple years. Every night. There are people keeping cars running instead of buying food, just so they can keep moving and not get ticketed for parking in the wrong spot. Rack up enough tickets and your next shelter is jail, which is also full. Lots of people--including me--living in fear of getting a traffic ticket because that puts one a couple weeks out from bench warrant or license suspension territory, and if you can't drive, you are stuck competing for far fewer jobs against many more applicants, and the jobs don't pay a livable wage.
Let us not forget too, that CPS has determined it's not legal to have children in a dwelling without hot and cold running water, finished flooring, separate bedrooms for adults and children of different sexes, or a functional heating system. If one is unable to independently provide these things, one is required to seek public assistance and/or risk losing custody of their children to the state. We've criminalized poverty, but we've REALLY criminalized being an impoverished parent.
Yes, it's a depression. If it was legal, there would be Hoovervilles.