# Anyone else noticing more homeless people? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2021, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792 "2021-04-11T12:04:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeathPool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e95f7d/32.png) [@DeathPool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeathPool)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/1 "2021-04-11T12:04:57Z")
Not sure if this is just local to me or indicative of a national trend. But I’ve noticed a lot more homeless people these days around the town I live in which is a sort on the smaller side of a metropolitan area but large in terms of most cities in the state. There are definitely a lot more regulars or maybe they are just more visible some I recognize on sight these days. I don’t think it’s specifically due to the pandemic I noticed it a couple years leading up to it. There’s a couple local businesses that were bought out or went out of business and at a local bar the bartender was telling me there was like a whole community of homeless back there, which for this area would be unusual though I know that sort of thing is more common on the West Coast. Anyone else noticed anything like this going on in your locale? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/2 "2021-04-11T19:17:09Z")
I haven’t _personally_ noticed this in Suffolk, Virginia. But my pastor spoke today about the NightStay program that our church and several help run as part of the Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk (CAPS). He mentioned that there’s a severe housing crisis, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because landlords are limited in their options when it comes to evicting people who can’t pay, some of them have taken to requiring 2 or 3 months of rent in advance, which is something that, to put it mildly, most truly homeless people can’t afford. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/3 "2021-04-11T19:43:17Z")
When I went down to Bloomington Indiana, I noticed far more homeless people there vs years ago. I was told that homeless people come there because the services are better and the community is more accepting. At this point they’ve taken over some parks ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/4 "2021-04-11T20:40:59Z")
Definitely more in Honolulu that when we went to school here 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/5 "2021-04-11T20:49:16Z")
Definitely more here in the SFBA CA. (USA) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/6 "2021-04-11T21:01:55Z")
The community may be more accepting, but the services in Indy are far better and more comprehensive. But there are more in Indy these days, especially amongst the chronically homeless. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/7 "2021-04-11T21:06:54Z")
I’ve noticed a rather large increase here in Colorado, starting right about the time that legal marijuana took off. I’m sure it’s not all marijuana’s fault, but that unquestionably played a role. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/8 "2021-04-11T22:37:49Z")
Murfreesboro Tennessee–Hell yes. And it’s scary. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/9 "2021-04-12T00:19:32Z")
Sacramento area and yes. So many tents and so much garbage. I sure hope somebody smart is trying to figure out what to do about it. I don’t want to be afraid of people on my walk, but when I see them yelling at cars and walking in the middle of the road, I do feel afraid and I try to avoid getting too close. It’s very sad. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/10 "2021-04-12T00:22:25Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > I’ve noticed a rather large increase here in Colorado, starting right about the time that legal marijuana took off. I’m sure it’s not all marijuana’s fault, but that unquestionably played a role. - That was over eight years ago. I doubt it has anything to do with recent changes. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/11 "2021-04-12T01:49:55Z")
> [@DeathPool](#): > > Not sure if this is just local to me or indicative of a national trend. But I’ve noticed a lot more homeless people these days around the town I live in which is a sort on the smaller side of a metropolitan area but large in terms of most cities in the state. I noticed more in the Little Rock area back in 2017 after a federal judge ruled that a revised state anti-loitering law was unconstitutional. i.e. It was no longer illegal to panhandle. Starting in 2017, there were more homeless people panhandling around busy intersections not only downtown but in other areas of the city. I really haven’t noticed more homeless people in the last year though. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/12 "2021-04-12T03:16:02Z")
I actually haven’t noticed more in my local area, and the ones I was used to seeing have mostly seemed to be gone. I’m hoping its because they managed to find somewhere to not be homeless, but I’m pretty sure its because the freeway on and off ramps have been changed to round-abouts here. When I was in Phx last, we came across a small tent city which looked clean from the road and also had several porta-potties. Back when I was a food stamp worker, many of the rough sleeping homeless I dealt with appeared to have untreated mental issues. I can easily see folks with issues not dealing well with the current situation so am rather surprised to not see more homeless around the area. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/13 "2021-04-12T14:36:40Z")
I have, but it predated the pandemic by a year or two. Basically the City of Dallas cleaned out several large homeless encampments under the freeways in about 2017-2018, and shortly afterward the homeless population in my part of town (NE Dallas) became a lot larger and more visible. My guess is that since my part of town is a weird mix of wealthy suburb and extremely low income apartments due to some judicial decisions, it’s more homeless friendly than the more wealthy parts to our west, or more poor areas in the southern part of town - basically lower-cost because of the businesses catering to the lower-income residents, but more fruitful for panhandling because of the wealthier residents. In a longer term view- since both 1999 when I moved to DFW, and 2008, when I moved to Dallas proper, I’ve seen an increase in visible homeless people out and about- not sure exactly why though. Part is probably because my patterns have changed, and part is probably due to something else that I can’t pin down. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/14 "2021-04-12T17:17:18Z")
Uptick in NoVa greater DC metro areas. Particularly within walking distance of the new metro stations. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-noticing-more-homeless-people/939792/15 "2021-04-12T17:48:00Z")
In previous decades law enforcement made substantial efforts to discourage in-your-face homelessness (as opposed to out-of-sight, out-of-mind homelessness). They no longer do this.