novel: takes place in SF. Profile the decline and the form it takes.
Specifically:

How fast did the depression come on? A year? Two? Three?

What did people think of people living on the streets? Bums? Unemployed?

Did it start out as one (bums) change to another (unemployed)?

Vice versa?

"Selling pencils on the street" were they bums?

today:

do people think there are more shiftless/lazy/stupid/etc people today,
vs. say 1990? 1980? 1970?