# Where's the best place to be homeless? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-best-place-to-be-homeless/665754 "2013-08-08T22:57:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-best-place-to-be-homeless/665754/21 "2013-08-10T01:30:23Z")
Maritime Canada is an awesome place where the people really live the Canadian stereotype of being in-your-face friendly. I mean, wow. Problem with the place, though, is the cold, snow, and ice. It’s great in the warmer months. Not too hot, not too cold, you could sit in the harbor all day and feel great. Get caught stealing, you’re probably more likely to get an invite to their next party rather than a court summons. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-best-place-to-be-homeless/665754/22 "2013-08-10T01:37:21Z")
One place I don’t think I would like to be homeless in would be many areas of the Caribbean, especially the US islands (PR and USVI). Sure the climate is great, but there are so many have-nots and so much street crime at night in bad neighborhoods, and also Anglos are a minority there anyways so there would be the perception that I was “different” and perhaps not as worthy to just hang out there. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-best-place-to-be-homeless/665754/23 "2013-08-10T03:27:42Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Apparently, [Hawaii is so attractive for homeless Americans that they’re trying to figure out how to send them back](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/01/207937294/hawaii-homeless-initiative-would-send-some-back-to-mainland). > > I have a handful of wandering hippie type friends who made it there, and love it. So I’d go live with them. > [@toofs](#): > > Oahu, Hawaii. No question. > > I bought my puka shell necklace from Jacob, a homeless guy at a dive spot we call electric beach. Those guys have a nice little gig selling small crafts and offering to carry your air tanks to the water for a tip. > > If I was going to end up homeless, I would scrounge the money for a one way ticket to Hawaii and live on the beaches and parks there. I was discussing this with some friends just last night. Hawaii would be my choice too. My practicum at the U of Hawaii involved drug addicts, many of them homeless, downtown on and around Hotel Street. The place looked a bit gentrified during our 2005 visit, but it was still a pretty lowlife place at night back in our days there. I recall one guy speaking from personal experience – can’t remember if he was still homeless at that time – telling me how easy it was to fall into a comfortable homeless routine there. You had your shelters you could go to if necessary, and you knew where to go for your charity meals, and you hang out on the beach the rest of the time, and before long you’re thinking, “Yeah, this is okay.” But eventually, if you’ve not gone completely loony, common sense will catch up to you and make you realize: “Hey, wait a minute! This just ain’t normal at all!” White people have a harder time being homeless in Hawaii too. Most homeless are of varying ethnicities, and rightly or wrongly, they often perceive their plight being the direct result of The Man, specifically The White Man. And so now here comes along a white man they can actually vent their frustrations on – read: kick the holy bejesus out of – and be fairly certain they can get away with it. I recall too some homeless shelters that whites studiously avoided because they were sure to be victimized by some of the other residents. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-best-place-to-be-homeless/665754/24 "2013-08-10T05:10:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Apparently, [Hawaii is so attractive for homeless Americans that they’re trying to figure out how to send them back](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/01/207937294/hawaii-homeless-initiative-would-send-some-back-to-mainland). > > I have a handful of wandering hippie type friends who made it there, and love it. So I’d go live with them. That’s what I was going to say. Waikiki beach had a number of homeless people around, it didn’t look too bad all things considered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-best-place-to-be-homeless/665754.md?page=1)