Yes, plenty of the places I've gone have been by plane, to tourist locations. However, I've travelled extensively by car throughout the middle to lower sections of Georgia and Alabama (fairly poor areas).

I'm fascinated with how technology has changed rural life, so I like to visit small towns just to observe. For instance 10 years ago I noticed fairly substantial differences in the way teenagers from rural areas dressed compared to suburban teenagers (i was a suburban teenager at the time). Now the differences, in apparel are closing rapidly. Also, when I was a kid and the Nintendo 64 came out but everyone was out of stock. All you had to do was drive to some small town (Hazlehurst, GA) Walmart to find one. Now because everyone is so connected, that same Walmart had a line out the door on the day the PS3 was released.

I'm also the type of person who likes to go to a city with no plan in mind and just wing it. A few friends and I, went to New Orleans about 2 years after Katrina, we got a hotel near Bourbon Street, but we spent most of our time just walking. We walked for miles, covered a huge part of the city, and definitely ended up in some places where we probably shouldn't have gone.

In summary, yes I've definitely been in places where one would expect to find tent cities.

I'm not saying they don't exist, but if you do find one, it's likely to be just a handfull of people living in the woods, not what I'd really call a "tent city."

Also there is a problem in the US, there is a financial crisis, but the average person gets up everyday and goes to work. They may be worried about the economy, but no more than the other stuff the 24 hour news warns them about (you know--child murderers, plagues, terrorists etc...)