r/NoStupidQuestions 14d ago

Where are the homeless supposed to go?

Cities have been cracking down on homeless people so they can’t have encampments or stay on sidewalks. At the same time usually the shelters are full. So those who are unable to get into a shelter, where are they supposed to go?

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u/whatugonnadowhenthey 14d ago edited 14d ago

Since no one is answering the question in good faith, I’ll give it a shot. Honestly, most cities don’t give a shit if a homeless guy is sleeping on a stoop or in a alley or something, it’s been part of living in a city for thousands of years. They care when dozens of them set up tent cities in public areas and start trashing them. That’s when it becomes a real problem because once a tent city is established, less regular folk go to the area, which leads to more homeless, which leads to less regular folk, which leads to businesses leaving, etc. etc.

So the answer to your question is out of open air drug dens and into more individual spaces that are less of an eye sore and quite frankly a danger to the community. Literally “disperse”.

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u/Conscious-Strawberry 14d ago

"Literally disperse" to where?

A tent community got busted up in my local area not too long ago. For years after that, it wasn't uncommon for me to find unhoused folks IN MY YARD. One of them broke into the stairwell of our apartment building. Do you know how scary it is to be flying out the door to get to work, just to find a sleeping unhoused person in your stairwell behind a door that's supposed to be locked?

So you've done a good job explaining why these laws are made (eyesore, unsafe conditions, etc). But you really haven't answered OPs question at all of where are they supposed to go after they "disperse"?

And when folks make these laws without giving these humans a place to go, conditions can become much less safe. I can avoid a tent city. A sleeping homeless man who broke into my apartment building bc he had no where else to go when that tent city was broken up? Harder to avoid.

And no, my story is not some one-off thing. Many others who live near tent cities that were broken up have had similar experiences

These people need somewhere to go and sleep at night, just like you and me. That's why I support affordable housing laws and local support programs for the chronically homeless folks

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u/Shilo788 14d ago

Yup, they broke up one in local woods and next thing I see a tent down across from my creek and back fields . Off my land so I just watched, the dogs would have alerted if they crossed the creek. After a big flood I found dozens of vodka pint bottles washed up on the road . He got flooded out and never came back. The bottles filled a grain bag so I guess that was his addiction .