# In a normal day, how often do you encounter homeless people? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429 "2017-10-21T12:47:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/41 "2017-10-21T20:40:29Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I just moved to small-town Cornwall, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone living on the street here, but there are still plenty of homeless people, from everything I’ve heard. What do they do? Live in the countryside? Stay with friends? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/42 "2017-10-21T20:42:33Z")
I’d _estimate_ once a week or so for my Space Coast location. Around half the time I go on a long-distance run I come across someone with the aforementioned craploads of stuff that is probably all they own but I only do a long distance run once every two weeks or so. I see panhandlers every week but I’d think that many of them aren’t homeless but some of them might be so I’ll round up to once a week. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/43 "2017-10-21T20:54:26Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > What do they do? Live in the countryside? Stay with friends? I don’t anything about Cornwall but the people I know are homeless here in northern RI live on the streets, public parks, and stay with family or friends, and people and places that charge them for temporary shelter when they can afford it. We don’t always know who is homeless, you can’t tell from appearances, and sometimes people you think are homeless based on appearance actually do have a stable enough place to stay that they shouldn’t be considered homeless, though usually they are quite impoverished. ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/44 "2017-10-21T21:04:14Z")
I see them daily on my walk from my home to the station, and from the city station to my place of work. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/45 "2017-10-21T21:27:42Z")
I live in an affluent Boston suburb that is also a small city in its own right. It is one of the safest place in the country. We don’t have homeless people. There is no reason for them to be here. They would get out of any place they tried to stay because there are no truly urban areas and they would freeze to death during the winter. The town that I work in is the same way. There are homeless people in Boston proper but I don’t go there very often. I always wonder why they just don’t get a bus ticket and go anywhere south rather than sleeping on a heating grates during the winter but they are homeless and probably have lots of other issues that preclude strategic planning. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/46 "2017-10-21T21:57:22Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > What do they do? Live in the countryside? Stay with friends? Charity or church run shelters, staying with friends, squatting in empty buildings… Probably a few people live in cars, but I think more of them move into the city. There were loads of people living in vans and caravans on the street in Bristol. I think most homeless people who have transport head off places like that, the city’s more anonymous than a little town, and there are more facilities and opportunities. Occasionally I’ve noticed tents hidden out in the woods at the edge of town, but it’s hard to be sure that’s not just kids playing around or free camping tourists from just a glimpse. Edit: It’s been chucking it down with rain and blowing a gale for most of the last week, if people are sleeping rough, they’re getting some form of shelter or hypothermia right now. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/47 "2017-10-21T22:00:30Z")
> [@Grumbacher\_Red](#): > > 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. I knew of a ‘homeless family’ that lived in a motel ! There 3 kids and the parents in one room with a double bed and the kids were older . Homeless people that live in shelters are also homeless. [http://www.homelesshouston.org/coalition-faq/how-does-this-faq-work/](http://www.homelesshouston.org/coalition-faq/how-does-this-faq-work/) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/48 "2017-10-21T22:11:26Z")
When I lived in a major capital city it was a daily event, both in my home suburb and during my commute through the CBD. Now I live in a small town, and only see the ‘homeless guy’ when he sits outside the supermarket with his worldly possessions and his dog which is maybe once a month? He doesn’t beg (and in fact will go ballistic if you try to offer him anything apparently) but he is a familiar face. In the warmer weather, it is reputed that he lives among the sand dunes adjacent to the beach…god knows where he goes when it’s cold, wet and windy. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/49 "2017-10-21T22:12:30Z")
I am a volunteer coffee bar tender at an AA club 3 or 4 times a week. I run into homeless daily there. Many of them go to meetings for the coffee and donuts. I also know a good number of folks you would never imagine are homeless who live in their cars. They shower daily or bi daily at the local ymca. I live in Los Angeles and we encounter them daily everywhere we go. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/50 "2017-10-21T23:43:19Z")
See quite a few every day; there are a couple shelters around me. But interaction is more like once or twice a week. They have almost become a sort of transient neighbors and a regular part of life for us to the point that they don’t catch our attention; sad to say. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/51 "2017-10-21T23:59:33Z")
My daily walk to and from work takes me past around 10 people I’m guessing are homeless, based on the number of bags and items they have with them. Several panhandlers in addition to that who may or may not be homeless. My work has several open squares very close, and when I have to walk through them, I encounter many more likely homeless. DC definitely has a large homeless population. My only real interaction is that I’ll buy a Street Sense if I have cash. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/52 "2017-10-22T00:46:29Z")
I rarely to never personally interact with the homeless. There are a few here in the Cayman Islands, and no homeless shelter I know of. Through my work at 9-1-1 I have heard reports relating to a few of the homeless often enough that I know there are a few out there. Occasionally we get a report in the middle of the night of an apparently unresponsive person in a car. When we run the license plate we can see it is a vehicle owned by a known homeless person who seems to have chosen to live out of a car rather than accepting help for other options. And more rarely there have been reports of homeless squatting in unused buildings - mostly some buildings damaged in a hurricane and never repaired. On the other hand there are a few who panhandle, mostly approaching customers at fast food restaurants or grocery stores. And I know who several of these people are and that they are not homeless, just choosing to panhandle. Occasionally these interactions generate a call from a business manager to have police intervene when panhandling becomes aggressive or when the panhandler choose to go inside the business and approach customers. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/53 "2017-10-22T05:26:00Z")
Well I live in NYC, so hourly. I didn’t vote in the poll though because I don’t interact with them. Unless having to listen to all the spiels asking for money or smell them is interacting. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/54 "2017-10-22T06:04:10Z")
I live in Tacoma, about 30 miles south of Seattle. Our house is next to a convenience store where folks (homeless and otherwise) often panhandle outside. They also hang out in the dining area of our local grocery store where they’re allowed stay as long as they’re not causing problems, as far as I can tell. And there’s always some on the buses around here. My boyfriend is well known among the regulars. He’ll often buy a meal for those who ask or look like they need it. I can’t afford to do so myself very often but they tend to greet me because they know we’re together. So, probably four of five times a week I interact with them, even if it’s only to say hello. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/55 "2017-10-22T06:15:07Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > But visible rough sleeping, sitting on the streets and/or panhandling is a lot more common in good weather US Western cities than NY, and London in my observation not visibly less than NY. The gov say there were 960 rough sleepers in London last winter. The leading charity and opposition party don’t quibble with that number. Not seen any analysis of those for whom mental health is an issue: > **[Number of rough sleepers in England rises for sixth successive year](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/25/number-of-rough-sleepers-in-england-rises-for-sixth-successive-year)** > > Latest official figures show an estimated 4,134 people were forced to sleep outside in 2016, up 16% on the previous year ---
**Author:** ![LongTimeLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@LongTimeLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongTimeLurker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/56 "2017-10-22T07:45:12Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > 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. I live as cheap as I possibly can now. I just wish I could get disability. I am almost 61 and my body can’t do the warehouse work that twenty year old people do. I am bi-polar and suffer from depression. My ‘dry’ eye problems leave me half blind for most of the day. I know that I will be homeless soon. I don’t want to be ‘that’ person that upsets your day by asking for a hand-out. I hope that I don’t get in your way. There is a waiting list to get into a shelter here. I suppose I should head south for the winter while I still can. I don’t even know where a place to get food in my city is. If I am going to be hungry, I might as well be hungry in a warm city instead of a cold one. I have worked for over forty years in my life, and I now find myself about a year short of qualifying for Social Security. I made too many bad choices in my life, so I will reap what I have sown. The biggest lesson I have learned? It seemed like a good idea at the time. ---
**Author:** ![LongTimeLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@LongTimeLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongTimeLurker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/57 "2017-10-22T08:14:37Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > In the UK these is a legal obligation for councils/boroughs to house ‘families’ immediately, even in hotels - that means anyone with a child. > > That reduces the people sleeping outside/sleeping ‘rough’ to about 4,000 nationally, and a significant number of those don’t have to but choose to - they may benefit from psychiatric help but also don’t want that. > > Despite austerity the safety net is pretty well intact, though the issue of ‘homelessness’ - that is people in short term basic and temporary accommodation - is immense, esp. in London. > > Fwiw, I walk the streets about mile from the centre for 4 hours each day and haven’t seen anyone sleeping outside in a year. > > On this issue more than most, the USA sounds like a capitalist apocalypse. While we spend more money on war and ‘defense’ than any other country in the world, we can’t seem to get it together enough to provide health care for our people. Our social safety net is virtually non-existent. We seem to intentionally create pockets of poverty so we can guarantee an endless supply of below minimum wage employee’s. Walmart is one of the worlds largest employer’s. They are also our nation’s largest source of the working poor. Walmart employee’s have to apply for food stamps as well as housing assistance just to survive. For the most part they are considered part-time employee’s so they don’t qualify for health insurance or any form of paid time-off. So the US subsidizes Walmart to keep their stockholders and C level executives rich and happy. In the meantime, I can’t even get a Walmart job. I don’t even have the physical ability to stand for four hours and say welcome to Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![LongTimeLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@LongTimeLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongTimeLurker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/58 "2017-10-22T08:20:54Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I see regular panhandlers, but I reckon they all having living quarters. But homelessness is [an issue](http://aberdeen-cyrenians.com/christmas-and-beyond-2/) even up here. Thank you for being so kind. You have always been a class act with your posts. You are truly a class act IRL too. ---
**Author:** ![LongTimeLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@LongTimeLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongTimeLurker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/59 "2017-10-22T08:28:57Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Frequently. They’re unavoidable in Chicago although many of them are professional panhandlers and gutter punks. WTF is a ‘gutter punk’? Professional panhandler, is that a Trump University major? ---
**Author:** ![LongTimeLurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@LongTimeLurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongTimeLurker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/60 "2017-10-22T08:32:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Almost daily. Hawaii has a huge homeless problem. And it’s unique in that the homeless can never leave. On the mainland, you can often scrape up bus fare somehow, or even walk if you have to, but getting out of this state is a major and costly venture. I am in downtown Honolulu most days, and that’s a big homeless gathering point. Even Waikiki, where we live, has more homeless wandering around than many tourists realize. From some of my reading I believe that the state of Hawaii is spending quite a bit of money to send a lot of the homeless population back to the mainland. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429.md?page=4)