r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Garey_Coleman • 10d 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/Fantastic-Campaign31 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 8d 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 9d 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 9d 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.

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u/Direct_Village_5134 8d 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 8d 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 9d 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 9d 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 9d ago

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

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u/WormedOut 9d 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 9d ago

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

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u/FYAhole 9d ago

Rest stops along the highway are great places to sleep

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u/StarrySkiesNY 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 9d 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 8d 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 9d 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 9d 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 8d 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 9d 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?

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u/doktorhladnjak 9d 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.