r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 8d 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/MolemanEnLaManana 8d ago

No one wants to say it aloud (because it’s a vile and appalling outcome) but the logical conclusion here is putting homeless people in prisons and other institutions against their will. If you criminalize homelessness more and more, and you don’t create more spaces where the homeless can freely live, that’s what you’re building toward.

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u/HungryIndependence13 8d ago

Florida has made it illegal for them to sleep. No joke. 

You aren’t allowed to use someone else’s private property to sleep. 

You aren’t allowed to sleep on public property. 

So, they can’t sleep anywhere. They are not allowed to sleep. 

This 100% turns them into criminals against their will. No matter how hard they try to stay awake they will eventually fall asleep somewhere. 

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u/doubledoc5212 8d ago

Colorado has similar laws - it's unlawful to sleep in public places. The cops will literally wake people up at 2am because they're sleeping in a park and force them to hike elsewhere. Where: who knows? And god knows you're going to have a hard time actually getting your life back together when you never get to finish a REM cycle.

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u/whitedolphinn 8d ago

That's fucked.

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u/Slightly-Adrift 8d ago

Colorado is in an extra sucky position because people will freeze to death outside, so we really don’t want people on the streets at night during the winter, but we’ve provided next to no resources to actually address that as an issue

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u/brettinbrooklyn 8d ago edited 8d ago

I don't believe that for a fucking second. If you call Lawrence Street they would immediately help you. Denver invests heavily in the homelessness crisis and it is getting better.

I don't know what this perverse obsession is with people saying cities are doing nothing to help homeless. Aside from being wrong and perpetuating misinformation, its a slap in the face to the countless people who are working on this.

I don't know what your motive is or what you are hoping to gain. But rather than lie, could you please just shut the fuck up on the subject? You are not helping and are just doing heartless and sadistic performance bullshit.

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u/xenogra 8d ago

It is possible to both do a lot, and also, not nearly enough. It's a big problem, and doing a lot in one place doesn't necessarily do much for people in other places who might not be able to access that help.

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u/etcpt 8d ago

TIL Denver is the only place with homeless folks in a hundred thousand square mile state.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 7d ago

Okay I'm going to tell you that someone that was homeless in Denver in 2016 it is the best place in the state to be homeless there are a lot of resources. However those resources are usually get you a bed for the night get you a meal get you clean clothes maybe get you a shower. The Stout Street clinic was pretty good I'll give credit where it's due. But even so everything up there is short-term nothing is geared towards getting you anything permanent. It's still not great and it's still very dehumanizing. Pueblo tho and Colorado Springs awful.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 7d ago

Yep here in the springs we lose three or four every year to freezing. The warming shelters don't turn on until it's like under 20° or something ridiculous like that and there's no real public transportation to get you there. You can call a cop but then it's a toss up whether they're going to take you to jail just harass you or take you to a warming shelter.

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u/MidorriMeltdown 8d ago

That's literal torture.

Cruel and unusual punishment for the "crime" of being homeless.

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u/Professional-Tax-615 Down with Gambling ads 7d ago

Torture and abuse is really what it is. That's the kind of tactics that the Nazis used in World War II, and also the Vietnam people used against their prisoners of war. Not allowing them to sleep.

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u/Super_Mario_Luigi 7d ago

It's common sense. There are other places to sleep than the street. I promise you.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 7d ago

Yeah? Where? The shelter? If there is space you are likely to get eaten by bed bugs or robbed. You wouldn't be on the actual street sleeping if you had willing family to help or a vehicle. So where?

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u/selfly 8d ago

Is that recent? Last time I was in Denver there were a ton of homeless people with tents in the middle of the sidewalks.

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u/Popular-Departure165 8d ago

The camps have mostly been cleared out of downtown.  The city bought/rented a bunch of hotels to house them, but there are still a lot of people camping underneath overpasses and a long the bike paths.

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u/HungryIndependence13 8d ago

And it gets mighty cold there, too. 

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u/beepichu 8d ago

it’s just pure unfiltered sadism. it’s easy to torture vulnerable people who have no other options.

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u/Hot_Ad1621 8d ago

They sleep everywhere else. Parks are just off limits to sleep at night. They don’t want the parks to be taken over by the homeless

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u/Fantastic-Campaign31 8d ago

One of the biggest "holy shit, this is what the world is really like" moments for me as a new adult was when I went on a road trip and due to limited funds some nights I slept in my car. And I learned very quick how difficult it is to legally sleep in public. My brain couldn't comprehend it. I'm technically legally not allowed to just park on the street somewhere where I'm not bothering someone and sleep? Or find an empty lot overnight?  Then I wondered about people less fortunate than I who don't do it by choice. Who have no other option. It's incredibly sad that as a society you can't just...exist, sometimes. 

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u/TheInfinitePymp 8d ago

FYI if you're still a traveler, find hospitals to park overnight and sleep. Usually it's not heavily patrolled, and it's expected that people come and go at all hours.

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u/TheCountofNotreDame 8d ago

Yup, I'm sure my wife who works in the medical system wants to be confronted by mentally ill people at 2 am when her shift ends. Thanks for that.

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u/Visual-Percentage501 8d ago

This comment was about finding somewhere to sleep on a road trip without being bothered? Go find another place to straw man please weirdo

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u/Available_Prune4377 8d ago

That is one of the dumbest laws to exist. If a parking lot is empty at 2 AM why can’t I park there and sleep

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u/etcpt 8d ago

The only legitimate reason I can think of is that in this day and age, if someone gets hurt on your property, they can sue you for all you're worth and sometimes they win lots of money. So there is incentive for landowners to close off their land and keep people from being there. But that's something we could fix with legislation.

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u/kmoz 7d ago

Because many people end up turning it into their personal RV park. The back aisle at a walmart (or wherever) parking lot is damned near always empty, so your argument would also apply to every other time in the day. Then you end up with people basically turning it into a shanty RV park.

I am very sympathetic to homeless people, but this is a major problem where I live (LA).

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u/soleceismical 8d ago

Because other people did it and committed crimes and left personal waste, so now they don't let anyone do it.

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u/IIlIIlIIlIlIIlIIlIIl 7d ago

This.

Coincidentally, this is also the same reason why homeless tent towns are generally broken up and whatnot. People generally, but especially the homeless, tend to trash the absolute hell out wherever they are.

1

u/Direct_Village_5134 7d ago

So you'd be okay with a homeless person parking in your driveway overnight? A parking lot is private property.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 7d ago

I have refered a few people to the cul-de-sac at the end of my driveway for one night. It's the whole one bad apple bullshit. When I had no where to go I had rules for myself. Only stay one night get up early and go, didn't cause a scene or cause problems. If more people did those simple things there would be less issues.

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u/BigDSAT 8d ago

Mostly because its someone else property. No different than someone parking in your parent’s driveway at night to sleep, they likely don’t want that.

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u/Altruistic_Fill_6441 8d ago

I think there's a pretty obvious difference between someone's personal driveway and a corporate retail parking lot.

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u/gullybone 8d ago

It’s not a parking lot for someone’s house

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u/WormedOut 8d ago

The laws are made due to the consequences of the extreme. If large amounts of cars park on the side of the road and are full of people sleeping, it’s a safety hazard. Public sleeping laws are to stop homeless encampments from forming.

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u/Fantastic-Campaign31 8d ago

I actually did come to that conclusion! Makes sense, doesn't make it any less sad

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u/FYAhole 8d ago

Rest stops along the highway are great places to sleep

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u/StarrySkiesNY 8d ago

LOL! I hope you're being sarcastic. Yeah, that worked out really well for Michael Jordan's father years ago when he was murdered sleeping in his car at one. My uncle used to drive rigs, and he said those are the most dangerous areas on the road because criminals constantly hang around looking for travelers to victimize.

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u/Fantastic-Campaign31 8d ago

Also, if you're travelling somewhere more remote (like I was) the risk of animals is really high too. You'll be okay for the most part in your car (well, even then, depends on the car) if you wake up in time - but animals are unpredictable, and large ones too at that. Wouldn't want to risk it

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u/FYAhole 7d ago

People get murdered everywhere. I have slept many times at rest stops and thankfully have not been murdered. If you're homeless, you don't have many other options

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u/Indigo_Sweater 8d ago

The correct way to address that is to make it easier for homeless people to find housing. Not make it illegal. You can't just make everything you don't find appealing or even unsafe illegal, it's impossible to enforce and always leads to mostly innocent people paying the price. It's not a "consequence for the extreme" its political theater.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 7d ago

I feel like it would even be helpful for cities to open up a couple parking lots and throw a couple security guards in there and let people crash there. Make some rules about having to be gone at a certain time of morning can't come back till a certain time in the evening throw some porta potties up there. Temporary but better than rousting people and not having a safe place to sleep.

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u/choopietrash 8d ago

On my road trips i would park in front of a gym chain (Anytime Fitness, but i think any 24/7 gym works) that i had membership to and therefore access to all locations in the country. Not weird to park overnight since the gym is always open, and they have an available bathroom, shower, water, and wifi. This was especially useful as someone who often needs to pee in the middle of the night.

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u/Nibelung_Molesti 8d ago

Yeah same I'll never forget having my window knocked on and a cop shining their light in my face because "there has been reports of burglaries". Like bitch it obviously ain't me. Then she told me to move on in the middle of the night because they don't allow vagrancy; she'd rather I drive sleep deprived.

Every time I think about it reminds me how stupid everything is. 

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u/Fantastic-Campaign31 7d ago

I think I had a dream once where I had to just keep driving and driving but I was so tired but I couldnt stop for that reason.

→ she'd rather I drive sleep deprived gave me deja dream lol 

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u/BravoFive141 8d ago

Somewhat related, I took a short road trip (only about 2-3 hours) a few years back to go to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal with my girlfriend at the time and a few friends. We get out of the park pretty late obviously, but I'm feeling alright, so I opted to hit the road and just try to get home rather than waste money on a hotel. I'm usually more of a night owl, so I figured they could all sleep in the car while I drive.

I get about an hour away from home before I decide I gotta stop and get get home shut eye for a bit. It's about 3-4am at this point, so I just pulled off at the next rest stop, parked in a well-lit spot, locked the doors, and got some sleep. At about 6am, I get woken up by an officer telling me I'm not allowed to sleep there and it scares other people.

Well fuck, guess I should have just crashed the car and killed us all?

1

u/doktorhladnjak 8d ago

Because it's not about one person quietly sleeping in their car for one night. If they allow one car, it grows to many. Cars become RVs and encampments. Piles of garbage and human waste follow. It becomes inhumane and a biohazard. Neighbors complain. So the police in many cities operate with a no tolerance policy.

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u/brettinbrooklyn 8d ago

Can we stop this bullshit about 'free will' and the homeless? If you have no choice but to sleep public or other people's private property, you do not have free will. At least if you deem this illegal you can mandate this person go to a prison or institution, against their "will."

But they do not have have free will. Stop acting like they do.

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u/mynamewasusedalready 8d ago

I live in FL and can assure you those folks be sleeping anywhere and everywhere, so while it may be illegal it’s not enforced.

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u/HungryIndependence13 8d ago edited 8d ago

It’s enforced in some places. I have seen it and I volunteer/work with these folks. It’s enforced.  

People still sneak-sleep where they can. 

Some businesses, if the car or person shows up late and is gone early (well after & well before working hours) and the person leaves nothing behind (including the smell of urine, vomit - NO SMELLS) and has done nothing illegal except sleep…some business people will look the other way. If the cops don’t see them, they may not be awakened or arrested. 

Occasionally a land owner will look the other way if the person shows up with a tent, does not leave poo behind and is gone (with their tent) before dawn…but it is very rare. But that is dangerous. Gators, panthers, bears…they will go right through the tent to eat you. And it would have to be the greatest tent in the world to keep out fire ants as well as other spiders, roaches and other bugs that will bite or cause problems. Not to mention dangerous humans, if they find out about it. And they usually do. 

And if it’s on land where the person lives…I’ve never heard of that not getting a police call

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u/mynamewasusedalready 8d ago

I mean I would also call the police if a stranger slept on my property.

I’ve never heard of gators or panthers eating homeless people - it’s actually incredibly rare for them to attack humans- but sure the insects and heat will do a number.

Mainly I see them sleeping at bus stops, under bridges, along the side of the road. Public property.

My husband worked in a bad area where homeless people would camp by the business. The owners would call the cops, but this isn’t a high priority call, so typically by the time the police show up the person is gone.

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u/HungryIndependence13 8d ago

How much crime against homeless people have you heard about?

Unless it is a serial killer who gets caught for some reason, nobody even cares. 

I doubt you hear anything about it even though it happens daily. 

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u/dpkonofa 8d ago

I love this for the US. Citizens living the plot of “Nightmare On Elm Street” just because we suck so much. America. Fuck yeah.

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u/kyliewoyote13 8d ago

Add to this how much money private corporations make from prison labor, and you have a system that maybe rhymes with bravery and is brilliant for the board's bottom line and dear leader's authoritarian aesthetic.

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u/MountainTwo3845 8d ago

This started after slaves were freed. There were no vagrancy laws until the slaves were freed.

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u/FishermanStunning192 8d ago

Well I’d damn near hope you can’t sleep on someone’s private property

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u/MysteriousWishbone87 8d ago

That's so depressing

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u/PodgeD 8d ago

This is the plan to push more and more homeless to blue states and cities. Their already strained systems (because no matter how blue the rich and politicians don't really give a fuck) get completely overun. The red states/politicians point to this as failures in the blue states and continue running on "reducing crime" even though red cities have more crime.

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u/HungryIndependence13 7d ago

It’s not an issue of Republican v Democrat. Neither side does anything for these folks. Democrats pretend to care but do as little as Republicans. 

Almost nobody wants to help their fellow man. 

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u/Hot_Storm3252 8d ago

At least in my city.

The county has increased homeless aid, and rehab services.

A lot of people are homeless because they’re drug addicted and don’t want to be told what to do to better themselves.

I’ve literally have heard the homeless complain the Salvation Army requiring all adults to contribute to the communal chores: cooking, serving, cleaning, etc.

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u/HungryIndependence13 7d ago

Some people are addicted. Some aren’t. If people wish to buy into the delusion that all the homeless people are crazy or drug addicts, I cannot stop them. 

You can lead a horse to water. 

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u/Mivlya 8d ago

By design. It's legal to force someone into slave labor if they're a criminal. So, make being homeless illegal, push an ever growing population into homelessness, and boom. Brand new slave economy. Dust on some racism to make fresh slaves of minor offenses from brown people and you can buoy america's economy while hiding it all from the eyes of the middle class.

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u/X-Calm 8d ago

I get it. One time I wanted to sit on a bench overlooking water but there was a homeless sleeping on it.

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u/Stunning_Scheme_6418 7d ago

I was homeless off and on for years and the biggest problem I've noticed amongst the homeless population is sleep deprivation it is a really hard to find someplace comfortable and safe to sleep for more than 3-4 hours at a time. And that's in a friendly area I can't imagine Florida's friendly area

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u/joesephexotic 6d ago

This should be the rule everywhere. No, you can't just set up camp wherever you feel like it. Look at what happened in Portland. They just let it happen and the people that own the business and actually contribute to society pay the price. A lot of business left the areas where the homeless people moved in because nobody wants to do thier shopping or dining where you have to walk around human shit and avoid people panhandling and doing drugs in the open. There should be some accountability for these programs that are "helping" the homeless. Most of these programs are funded by the feds and or the state and they squander the money on things that dont work and the CEOs salary. If there is no homeless then there is no more money so why would they fix the problem.