It seems like homelessness is reaching epidemic levels in some cities now. In San Diego it appears the problem has literally become an epidemic. This article details how bad the problem seems to be in Seattle (at least according to one businessman). This reflects my experience a couple of years ago, based on what I saw riding the commuter rail. From the news I read, it seems to be a growing problem in some cities.
So I’m asking the SDMB: In your normal day-to-day activities, how often do you encounter homeless folk? Are they a regular part of your commute or walks? Or is a homeless person an unusual occurrence? Is it ever a problem? (for you personally, either hassled or impacted by trash, etc.)
Poll to follow.
For me, the answer is: Almost never. I live in the far flung exurbs of the DFW area and my commute is only to the city’s edge. I occasionally see someone with a sign working one of the offramps but that’s it. I suppose there are homeless encampments around, but I’ve never seen one.
I live in a big city. Daily. Where I used to work several would be in the area, and I’ve switched work areas (to a smaller city), and there’s at least one homeless person siting by the front door of the office complex. Also every weekend I shop, and there’s several homeless people by the grocery store and often one near the dollar store.
Having said that, you cannot assume they are all actually homeless. I personally know one person who panhandles and works occasionally. She rents an apartment.
I’ve only had problems thrice in decades. One person demanded money while reeking of alcohol, while another whispered a death threat at me, and the third was wandering a library, unwashed and muttering to himself. I’m sure the first person really was homeless, but I’m not sure about the second person. The third likely was too, but it’s not like I interviewed any of them.
That’s a good point. I assume homelessness when the person has a lot of belongings with them – bags, grocery cart, etc. I should have covered that in my original question but have missed the edit window.
I know that there are a number of homeless people in my community (small town in the deep South) because I’ve talked to people who work with them, but I have no idea how often I encounter them. Panhandling isn’t really a thing here, and most of them are either squatting in abandoned buildings or living at cheap motels, so you don’t usually see people pushing around shopping carts full of their belongings. It’s a problem, but it’s mostly invisible around here.
I see them when I travel to large cities on business. I was in Philadelphia last March for a conference and they were EVERYWHERE! It was shocking to me. There were dozens and dozens sleeping under an overpass thing near the conference center and every night I was there always 1-3 in the vestibule of the hotel keeping warm. Some of them were pretty aggressive with their panhandling and you had to walk right through them. I asked at the desk of my hotel about the situation, and they said there aren’t enough shelters.
Where I live, in a medium-sized tourist city in the deep South, we have homeless people but the police and city services work really hard to keep them and scammers away from the tourist areas. There is an over pass at the edge of the city that gets set up periodically as a homeless camp, and it gets regularly cleaned out. Our shelter situation seems adequate.
In the non-tourist area of my city, I might see 1 shopping cart person every 2 weeks or so.
The same for the cardboard sign holders looking all pitiful, only I don’t believe most of those are really homeless.
Most weeks I volunteer at a meals for the hungry program at a local church, and so of course there are a number of homeless there, plus a lot who only barely avoid homelessness. And there are also a few at my own church every Sunday.
Other than that, I’m pretty likely to encounter a few panhandler every time I go downtown, and if you look closely there are usually a few sleeping on park benches or huddled up in a corner between buildings, too. And I’ll occasionally see panhandlers at busy intersections or grocery stores away from the metropolitan center, too. It’s hard to tell how many of the panhandlers are homeless, though doubtless some are.
I see a sign-holding panhandler - literally “a”, it’s always the same guy - a few times a month, but I doubt he’s actually homeless. I only see people who are definitely homeless a couple of times a year when I go to Boston/NJ/NY.
I figure it’s for the same reason that unemployment in NH is (partially) so low - the weather is too brutal too often to be a bearable place to stay out-of-doors half the year and we don’t have a large network of shelters you find in more urban states so people with uncertain finances who can leave for some place milder do whenever possible rather than face trying to survive without adequate shelter during our long harsh winters.
They harass me every time I drive downtown. Standing at the red lights with signs. Some are very aggressive and will shout or even kick your car. I had to run a red light a couple days ago to get away from one crazy bastard. I’ve had to start detouring to avoid that intersection because he’s always there.
We HAD a ordinance regulating panhandling until the stinking ACLU stuck their nose into it. I’d like to see their reaction when someone harasses them at every red light. Maybe one of their homeless buddies will kick their car in gratitude. Except those smug a-holes don’t have to live here and endure the mess they created.
Little Rock is still trying to craft a new panhandling ordinance that will withstand any ACLU challenge.
The definition for “Homelessness” differs depending on who you talk to. HUD has a narrow one compared to SF City. For certain programs I’m technically homeless, because I live in a SRO, which is consider transitional housing.
:sigh:
Was going to say more, but it’s pointless & I have a splitting headache.
BTW: I’m behind in my rent, my fault, but my disability hasn’t kept up with my rent.
Dude I have a fucking dent in my car! Thats going to cost me over $500 to get fixed. Thats from getting it kicked by a panhandler. I have to drive 5 blocks out of my way, every single day, to avoid an intersection where he hangs out. I already filed a police report. Getting hollered at isn’t fun.
I’ve given annual donations to local shelters and the Salvation Army for most of my adult life.
I don’t give money to panhandlers. Too many are frauds with a nice car parked close by. They aren’t really homeless. That is a disservice to the real homeless that need help.
Yeah, this latest incident just happened a few days ago.
The harassment at various downtown red lights has been occuring for most of this year. They know you’re trapped there until the light changes.
The panhandlers aren’t as aggressive in other parts of Little Rock. One guy waves and smiles as we go by. I’ve thought about picking up a sandwich for him at McDonald’s. I’m just not sure if he’s really homeless. But, it wouldn’t hurt to offer it to him.
When I worked in real estate, we were THE company for finding government subsidized rooms. We owned a rooming house and several apartment buildings and were willing to take welfare/Section 8. I interacted with them on a daily basis.
Now, not so much. I image some of the people I cashier for at the discount store or see in the library might be homeless.
And just how do you know if someone is homeless? They aren’t all gibbering to themselves while pushing grocery carts of junk you know.
When I lived in Chicago I saw homeless people pretty much daily. Not the least because I commuted early and overnight they tended to shelter in/around El stops and in summer slept out in Grant Park/Millennium Park.
Around where I live now there are homeless people but they’re more likely to be living in cars and NOT the gibbering, disheveled folks commonly associated with the term. When working overnight shifts at the store that employs me, especially in winter, it’s not unusual for them to be in the store because it’s warm and safe. If they aren’t bothering anyone else we leave them be. Same folks might also appear during the day. Homeless folks buy food and new socks, too, when they have the money. Then there’s my homeless co-worker, whose family couch-surfs between friends and relatives and occasionally rents a hotel room. Yep, full time worker, can’t find affordable housing, isn’t America great?
Most people probably DO interact with the homeless frequently, they just don’t know those people are homeless because they’re together enough to practice decent personal hygiene and wear clothes better than rags.
Small city right near NY. The homeless are generally the same few people I’ve seen for years. I’ll likely see one or more if I walk for awhile on the main street, and maybe on my street though not all the time. One of them is fairly aggressive, apparent bad drug problem, but they generally mind their own business. The guy most likely to be seen in our immediate neighborhood doesn’t want human interaction. Anyway we give to the local homeless shelter in lieu of trying to help directly. If others believe direct one on one help is the way to go they are free to do that, I don’t agree.
Some West Coast cities have seemed to me as visitor overrun by badly behaving homeless people in some neighborhoods. If areas are allowed to become unlivable for the employed and ‘homed’ by not enforcing the law about harassing other people, crapping in public etc. that doesn’t really help homeless people IMO. OTOH the police effectively just harassing the homeless for being homeless doesn’t help either. There’s some balance, like in most things.
I walk past panhandlers on a frequent basis. I assume their need is real, but I don’t assume they are also homeless since I also walk past a flophouse.
Imagine you get a disability check every month that pays your rent. And you also get an EBT card for fifty bucks a month. Your basics are paid for, but you don’t have any money for cigarettes, morning coffee, and yes, recreational substances. And $50 isn’t a lot of money for groceries. So you panhandle because you don’t have family willing to give you money and you’re too fucked up to get a job.
