# 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:** 5
**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:** [October 22, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/81 "2017-10-22T20:32:58Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Once in a while, if I drive to the main shopping strip in the morning. There’s usually one guy with a sign at one intersection. I heard one time, I think it was Washington state, of an ad agency who would hire homeless to hold signs like that except it was advertising. Dunno whatever became of that, but reports were it was going well. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/82 "2017-10-22T21:48:03Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I literally saw a group of homeless people standing inside a McDonalds forming a barrier next to the cashier line so the moment you got your change back they could immediately ask for it, and store management didn’t seem to care at all. This seems to be a thing with McDonald’s. I don’t eat there often, but there are two of them within a couple of blocks of my office. Both of them permit panhandlers to take over their doors (there are no drive-through windows, or any other kind of windows – this is New York City). One of them tolerates panhandling inside the restaurant, and quite aggressive panhandling, at that. And this isn’t a “bad” neighborhood – this is midtown Manhattan on the east side. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/83 "2017-10-22T21:55:50Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Gutter punks are well known in Chicago during the warmer weather, they’ll be headed for warmer climates within a week or so. Walk to the Belmont CTA stop and you’ll see plenty. > > [Gutter punk - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutter_punk) Right, them. We’ve got them here in NYC too, except we call them crusties. Many are truly homeless. Some are voluntarily homeless. I suppose they all started out that way, but if they stay in that life long enough, there’s no way back to normalcy for them, so they end up truly homeless. They are somewhat migratory. They disappear to warmer climes in the winter. More so these days, since available empty buildings in which to squat are few and far between these days. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/84 "2017-10-22T22:54:05Z")
Here in NYC, I have multiple encounters with homeless people every day. I commute from my home in Brooklyn Heights to my job in midtown Manhattan by subway, and I would say that on the majority of my subway rides there’s a panhandler working my subway car. I work kind of weird hours, which may skew things a bit. I go to work at around 2:00 and usually return home after midnight. I just about never see homeless people in my neighborhood. But where I work, they’re all over. And I’m sure they’re actually homeless, because I see them sleeping in the street at night when I leave work. There’s some panhandling, sometimes aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/85 "2017-10-22T22:55:20Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Wow! I’m curious where in LR you encountered this. MizPullin and I lived there for a couple of years, back in the day. A really nice town IMO. We lived near Rodney Parham for those two years (first S Rodney Parham, then a few miles N of it on Reservoir road). I’m familiar with most of the town though, I spent one of those years driving a UPS truck. This seems like something that would happen on the east side (6th-9th street areas being the worst IIRC). Idle curiosity I guess, haven’t been there in decades. The most aggressive panhandlers stake out the Interstate off ramp intersections into downtown. I630 & Chester and I630 & Broadway are the two I use. The Broadway st panhandlers will also pop up in the parking lots of the fast food restaurants. Usually just after you get your. food from the window. I have heard they are a problem on other downtown intersections. I don’t drive in those areas enough to know. I see a panhandler on the off ramp intersection of I430 and Rodney Parham. There’s several at the red light every day. So far they haven’t been aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/86 "2017-10-22T23:15:17Z")
I almost never leave my house so it’s rare, but mostly it’s outside around the area of the hospital where my daughter goes for speech therapy. There are people who wander the parking lot between the hospital and the Walmart across the street asking people for help buying diapers and baby formula. They live in the woods behind the hospital from what I’ve been told. Where I lived before in Memphis I saw homeless people every day often without leaving my yard. We lived in a cove about a block from a tent city and people sometimes come through neighbors’ backyards as a shortcut. Whenever a house becomes vacant they will squat in it until they’re forced to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/87 "2017-10-22T23:42:17Z")
I’m in a medium sized left-coast city, so yes, our downtown is inundated with homeless and young travelers. I work downtown, and their sense of entitlement to handouts is galling. I never give them anything. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/88 "2017-10-22T23:58:09Z")
I haven’t personally seen anything this bad. Look close at the photo. > **[De Blasio shocked by Post’s photo of man sleeping on train, vows action](https://nypost.com/2017/10/22/de-blasio-shocked-by-posts-photo-of-man-sleeping-on-train-vows-action/)** > > Mayor Bill de Blasio was shocked and appalled Sunday by a Post photo that shows a sleeping vagrant tucked away below the seats on a 3 train heading downtown through Manhattan around 9 a.m. the day … ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/89 "2017-10-23T00:22:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I haven’t personally seen anything this bad. > Look close at the photo. > > [De Blasio shocked by Post’s photo of man sleeping on train, vows action](http://nypost.com/2017/10/22/de-blasio-shocked-by-posts-photo-of-man-sleeping-on-train-vows-action/) Vows action…against the homeless man. > [@Article](#): > > “It’s not acceptable for people to sleep on a subway train like that,” de Blasio said upon being shown the picture at an unrelated news conference in Midtown… > > …“there are particular rules related to the MTA that give additional enforcement ability to the NYPD” — and vowed a crackdown. > > Asked if violators would be subject to arrest, de Blasio said cops could exercise “discretion” on a case-by-case basis. > “It’s up to the officer to decide what to do, but it’s an unacceptable condition, so to begin with, they would cure the condition,” he said. So… your outrage is that **homeless people exist** , your solution is **sic the cops on them,** you’re a politician and you don’t mind proudly displaying your complete lack of empathy or solutions to the public. Seriously, Fuck You, Mayor de Blasio. [URL=“[De Blasio shocked by Post’s photo of man sleeping on train, vows action](http://nypost.com/2017/10/22/de-blasio-shocked-by-posts-photo-of-man-sleeping-on-train-vows-action/)”] ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/90 "2017-10-23T00:26:04Z")
You think it’s acceptable for someone to sleep under the bench you have to sit on? That wouldn’t be just a little awkward for you? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/91 "2017-10-23T01:04:26Z")
It depends on how you define “homeless.” I often see 2, 3 or even 4 generations living together in a dilapidated 3 bedroom trailer, because Granny is the only one with a check coming in. I have met people who had no home, and just hitchhiked all over the country. I’ve known people who couch-surfed for weeks on end. I’ve had patients in flophouse motels. Just this week, I was behind a school bus that let 2 kids off at a motel I know to be a flophouse. My ex was a cop in a moderately sized city and frequently had to break up homeless camps in wooded areas of the city. I remember hearing about one man, well known for his alcohol addiction, who was found dead in the cave in which he had been living. So by my definition, I see the homeless frequently. Panhandlers, now, are another story (to me.) I see 2 to 3 of these a day in the small city in which I work. One has a sign that says “I need work.” The place he stands is ONE BLOCK from a workplace staffing office that that has weekly job fairs. He is there 3 to 4 days a week. Last week there was a “workers wanted” sign stuck in the ground next to him. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/92 "2017-10-23T01:52:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I haven’t personally seen anything this bad. > Look close at the photo. > > [De Blasio shocked by Post’s photo of man sleeping on train, vows action](http://nypost.com/2017/10/22/de-blasio-shocked-by-posts-photo-of-man-sleeping-on-train-vows-action/) I see something like that nearly every day. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/93 "2017-10-23T01:58:32Z")
> [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > Vows action…against the homeless man. > > So… your outrage is that **homeless people exist** , your solution is **sic the cops on them,** you’re a politician and you don’t mind proudly displaying your complete lack of empathy or solutions to the public. > > Seriously, Fuck You, Mayor de Blasio. > [URL=“[De Blasio shocked by Post’s photo of man sleeping on train, vows action](http://nypost.com/2017/10/22/de-blasio-shocked-by-posts-photo-of-man-sleeping-on-train-vows-action/)”] I’m not the biggest fan of Bill DiBlasio, and I won’t be voting for him on November 7 (although his victory is all but a foregone conclusion), but this \*is \*a police issue. People sleeping on the subway are a problem. They make the car they’re in nearly unusable. They’re sleeping on the seats, rather than under them, most of the time. Many, maybe most, of the homeless on the subway are unstable, and even if they’re not dangerous, they appear to be. I don’t feel all that threatened (most of the time) when I’m by myself, but when I have my wife and/or my two small children with me? Yes, I avoid subway cars that are being used as flophouses. I have no issue whatsoever with sleeping homeless people being removed from the subway. I’d rather they were moved into a shelter, where they have a bed and whatever assistance they need to move to permanent housing, or a care facility, whatever is needed, but the subways have to be available to, and safe for, those who depend on them to get around the city. And, for the record, the DiBlasio administration has made significant efforts, in the face of considerable opposition, to increase the amount of shelter space and transitional and permanent housing available. With varying degrees of success, to be sure. Again, I’m not his biggest fan, but credit where credit is due, etc. The story (and it should be noted that the story is from the _New York Post_, which hates DiBlasio – keep that in mind) says: > [@](#): > > The mayor drew his line in the sand despite announcing last year that cops in Manhattan would no longer arrest people for taking up two or more seats on the subway — and that prosecutors wouldn’t even pursue such cases in court. > > The move helped spur a surge in the number of homeless people riding the rails surrounded by piles of junk in bags and carts — an epidemic that was only slightly eased by this past summer’s warm weather. So DiBlasio has actually \*relaxed \*police action against people sleeping on the subway. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/94 "2017-10-23T02:04:23Z")
Food for thought: Hurricane victims, this month - give what you can! …a year from now: Damn homeless people. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/95 "2017-10-23T02:09:58Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > And, for the record, the DiBlasio administration has made significant efforts, in the face of considerable opposition, to increase the amount of shelter space and transitional and permanent housing available. With varying degrees of success, to be sure. Again, I’m not his biggest fan, but credit where credit is due, etc. Good to know. Very not clear from the article, may have been quote mining. If he’s taking steps to address the housing situation, good for him. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/96 "2017-10-23T02:13:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. > [Little Rock struggles with how to deal with panhandlers | thv11.com](http://www.thv11.com/mobile/article/news/local/little-rock-struggles-with-how-to-deal-with-panhandlers/91-441014812) The panhandlers in my area are often people who have been banned from every shelter in the area for refusing to follow the rules. How often do I encounter homeless people? I don’t know, because you can’t tell just by looking at someone if they’re homeless. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/97 "2017-10-23T02:17:48Z")
> [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > Good to know. Very not clear from the article, may have been quote mining. > > If he’s taking steps to address the housing situation, good for him. As I said, the \*Post \*absolutely \*hates \*DiBlasio. Every story that involves him is slanted to make him look bad. It’s owned by Rupert Murdoch, DiBlasio is a Democrat, what do you expect. . . ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/98 "2017-10-23T03:28:01Z")
I see them nearly every day in Albuquerque. Most of them stand at intersections with a sign; my friend and I sometimes hand them lollipops or bags of chips. They are generally grateful for it. Along Central Avenue, especially on the east side, there are crowds of people who appear to be drunk or mentally ill (or both) and who just hang around certain areas. The city removed a few bus benches there because of people crowding around and passing out on them. Other homeless people build a shantytown in the brush by the river. Periodically there are fires in the area and the firefighters happen upon the shantytowns. The shantytowns are then destroyed and the homeless put in touch with shelters, but it appears that when the fuss has died down they just come back and rebuild. I think the city sometimes puts the more functional homeless people to work at day jobs like picking up litter. There also a few shelters, 1 county dry out clinic, and a few low cost motels (which are being torn down) for the homeless. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/99 "2017-10-23T05:05:57Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > I see them nearly every day in Albuquerque. Most of them stand at intersections with a sign; my friend and I sometimes hand them lollipops or bags of chips. They are generally grateful for it. > > Along Central Avenue, especially on the east side, there are crowds of people who appear to be drunk or mentally ill (or both) and who just hang around certain areas. The city removed a few bus benches there because of people crowding around and passing out on them. > > Other homeless people build a shantytown in the brush by the river. Periodically there are fires in the area and the firefighters happen upon the shantytowns. The shantytowns are then destroyed and the homeless put in touch with shelters, but it appears that when the fuss has died down they just come back and rebuild. > > I think the city sometimes puts the more functional homeless people to work at day jobs like picking up litter. There also a few shelters, 1 county dry out clinic, and a few low cost motels (which are being torn down) for the homeless. I lived for a spell in Albuquerque, from 1990-91, just after my first return from living in Thailand. Briefly considered panhandling on Central Avenue just to see how much money one could bring in. It would be the ideal time, before I’d found a job and while no one knew me yet except for my buddy and his girlfriend whose couch I was sleeping on until I could get my own apartment. But then I found a job and started knowing people and so gave up the idea. Even back then, Central had some colorful characters: - The Poet, fairly lucid and always dressed in black. - The guy who would always ask you for $20. I guess if you ask for a quarter, you’ll get a quarter, but ask for $20 and you might get a buck. - The guy who would ask you for money, and then when you gave him some would stare in absolute wonder at it for quite a few moments. I mean really astonished, like he was thinking, “What the Holy Fuck _is_ this???” Then he would snap out of it, say, “Fuck you very much” and leave. He met a sad end that winter I was living there. While he was sleeping on a mattress out in the open, a group of teenagers, three I think, doused him with gasoline and burned him to death. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429/100 "2017-10-23T06:49:10Z")
I don’t know how many are homeless, my wife says not many of them. Today, I saw several sitting on the streets, one of them apparently asleep, but here in the Philippines, apparently, most of the beggars have family that they live with, and there is not much homelessness. Meanwhile, one of my best friends in the USA is homeless, she and her teenage daughter live in her car, and from time to time they do a stint in a motel. She is disabled and cannot work, and because of SSA, money is not the issue. For a number of reasons, she cannot get accepted to housing, except by predatory landlords, and she is sick of enduring their abuse, preferring homelessness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-normal-day-how-often-do-you-encounter-homeless-people/799429.md?page=6)