Downtown Homeless Situation

[livincinco]

Just drive down Westheimer all the way to Highway 6. Keep in the left hand lane and keep your window down. You'll have to beat them off with a stick. Stop at any large shopping center along the way and sooner or later you'll be approached. I think I've seen way more in the near suburbs than I have in downtown.

I know what you mean, but I've always had the feeling that those are "professional" vagrants instead of true homeless. Kind of a weird distinction I know, but I think that a lot of them are sleeping under a roof somewhere.

[YakuzaIce]

In the old days and homeless in movies they would say ...Hey buddy can you spare a dime? Now it's give me some money. If you refuse, get ready to be cursed out or worse. Most do not care if you are with a wife or children. Just try it and see. Please report back.

That's odd, my experiences are pretty much the same as RedScare's (at least concerning Downtown). For the most part when I don't give any money they will just say "God bless" or "Have a nice day", and that's that. Can't say it's the same for along 59 however. Several times I have had my windshield struck when I say I don't want them to wash it. Even so these experiences are few and far between.

[memebag]

I know what you mean, but I've always had the feeling that those are "professional" vagrants instead of true homeless. Kind of a weird distinction I know, but I think that a lot of them are sleeping under a roof somewhere.

Not a weird distinction at all, just one that a lot of people here refuse to keep in mind. The set of homeless people and panhandlers intersect, but they aren't the same set.

[20thStDad]

On that, I would think that the same ones I've seen at the same corner for YEARS now have to be of the professional vagrant variety. First, they appear clean shaven. I'm not saying that someone without a home couldn't find a razor now and again, but always a clean shave? Come on. I am not giving that dude any money.

[editor]

On that, I would think that the same ones I've seen at the same corner for YEARS now have to be of the professional vagrant variety. First, they appear clean shaven. I'm not saying that someone without a home couldn't find a razor now and again, but always a clean shave? Come on. I am not giving that dude any money.

I like the ones with better shoes than I have who are jamming out to music on a Discman while begging for money.

Umm.... Yeah.. No. I don't think so.

Can't wait till I start seeing them with iPods.

[Heights2Bastrop]

Reminds me of the time not long after Houston went bust. Many people who bought overvalued homes at outrageous interest rates suffered, and some became homeless as a result. A number of homeless lived under and around the San Jacinto River Bridge out 59.

I saw more that one interview from that location, and was amazed at how many people complained on air about how they had nothing and needed help

[Vertigo58]

Just drive down Westheimer all the way to Highway 6. Keep in the left hand lane and keep your window down. You'll have to beat them off with a stick. Stop at any large shopping center along the way and sooner or later you'll be approached. I think I've seen way more in the near suburbs than I have in downtown.

Westchase has them coming and going. Set up cardboard shacks in alleys and in open shopping strips Westheimer/Wilcrest. Makes us wonder how they got this far out? or what is the allure? There was an effort to push them out of DT by HPD and it worked at least in the interum. So now they are here and are not friendly. Local security and HPD tell em to move on so back and forth they go.

There was that one 40 something woman that always hung around Main street near Macy's and always would say "Give me money" she had on coordinating clothes, lip stick and nail polish. At least she dressed for the DT crowd. She never seemed to realize she was asking the same person for cash everyday, morning & lunch time. Wouldn't you at least have more sense not hit up the same person for $. The charade is over baby.

I cracked up when this guy on the bus told me he finally got tired of her same routine, told her to get lost, and she attacked him, gave him a black eye. Others had to pull her off until a cop intervened. Yep, harmless shuhhh. That is one thing I do not miss about working DT.

[Heights2Bastrop]

If Louie Welch was mayor, maybe Houston could have a "Shoot the Homeless" policy?

Edited July 15, 2008 by Heights2Bastrop

[rsb320]

Mayor White publicly recommended several years ago NOT to give them ANY money. Also, I'm told that they can only ask once and be cited for persisting. Apparently, they do know this.

They're in the Market Square area as well, but it's the same ones that must just live here during the day. I'm rarely approached. If I am, I just nod my head and keep walking. It is much better, in my perspective, that it was in the late 80's.

[skwatra]

i've been verbally accosted at the greyhound station at least twice, once for not giving money to a guy that offered to "watch my car" and when i said no thanks he cursed at me and told me he was going to break into my car. another time one asked for money, i told him i didn't have any cash, he then followed my for a block cursing. another time in front of Mai's when i was walking home with takeout i was asked for money and said i didn't have any and he got on my case about how i got my food. i asked him if he took credit cards and he wasn't too happy.

though never have i felt physically threatened, i have been verbally threatened many times in the last few years. never had any problems downtown, just midtown.

also after katrina i got the "i need $5 for gas" story a bunch of times at random stations around houston. most of the time there was no car in site, and a few times they got on my case when i refused.

i have a fear that some day these 'professional vagrants' will start accepting credit cards. but they probably won't take discover.

Edited July 15, 2008 by skwatra

[rsb320]

i've been verbally accosted at the greyhound station at least twice, once for not giving money to a guy that offered to "watch my car" and when i said no thanks he cursed at me and told me he was going to break into my car. another time one asked for money, i told him i didn't have any cash, he then followed my for a block cursing. another time in front of Mai's when i was walking home with takeout i was asked for money and said i didn't have any and he got on my case about how i got my food. i asked him if he took credit cards and he wasn't too happy.

though never have i felt physically threatened, i have been verbally threatened many times in the last few years. never had any problems downtown, just midtown.

also after katrina i got the "i need $5 for gas" story a bunch of times at random stations around houston. most of the time there was no car in site, and a few times they got on my case when i refused.

i have a fear that some day these 'professional vagrants' will start accepting credit cards. but they probably won't take discover.

Greyhound area is a whole other matter. I wish they'd move that thing! Next time, take a picture with your phone and provide it to the police with a complaint. That should make them STFU.

[20thStDad]

also after katrina i got the "i need $5 for gas" story a bunch of times at random stations around houston. most of the time there was no car in site, and a few times they got on my case when i refused.

When I first moved to Houston (2001), I got hit up for gas in the parking lot of the Randall's on Westheimer @ Shepherd by a dude. Fun part it he was driving around the parking lot finding people to beg from. Needed to get to Dallas or something. Then I saw him doing the same thing a month later and called him on it, and he sped off, wasting more precious gas.

[ricco67]

There was that one 40 something woman that always hung around Main street near Macy's and always would say "Give me money" she had on coordinating clothes, lip stick and nail polish. At least she dressed for the DT crowd. She never seemed to realize she was asking the same person for cash everyday, morning & lunch time. Wouldn't you at least have more sense not hit up the same person for $. The charade is over baby.

I cracked up when this guy on the bus told me he finally got tired of her same routine, told her to get lost, and she attacked him, gave him a black eye. Others had to pull her off until a cop intervened. Yep, harmless shuhhh. That is one thing I do not miss about working DT.

Is this a black woman about 5 foot or so?

she hit me up for a dollar on metro. I figured she got her money stolen or something because she was well dressed and seemed to be well groomed. Forgot all about it. An hour later, I saw her asking people as I was walking up and she asked ME for money again. I finally asked her to forget it. She already had my dollar and she started cursing me out (after initially praising god or whatever her schtick was initially). I threw a few choice words and threatened to dunk her in the fountain on mainstreet if she didn't leave me alone.

Looking back,I should have.

[robhan]

I have found the vast majority of the homless bother noone but the bad ones are so in your face they ruin it for the good ones. If the bad ones would be honest and say they want money for booze, drugs or smokes I would like it better. I know homeless poeple who go abouth their day eating free meals. taking free showers and sleeping in shelters or on the street. The ones I just mentioned have never asked me for money and I never seen them asking for money.

[Vertigo58]

Is this a black woman about 5 foot or so?

she hit me up for a dollar on metro. I figured she got her money stolen or something because she was well dressed and seemed to be well groomed. Forgot all about it. An hour later, I saw her asking people as I was walking up and she asked ME for money again. I finally asked her to forget it. She already had my dollar and she started cursing me out (after initially praising god or whatever her schtick was initially). I threw a few choice words and threatened to dunk her in the fountain on mainstreet if she didn't leave me alone.

Looking back,I should have.

No, this one looked just like Laverne DeFazio of Laverne & Shirley fame. Maybe she got fired from her job at the beer bottling plant? Had a Brooklyn dialect too! I should have done like Squiggy, and popped her one! Hey Shuyall!

Edited July 15, 2008 by Vertigo58

[HedwigTramp]

I have been working downtown for twenty years and have never felt threatened (get asked for money 2-3 times a week but "No" does the trick).

I actually miss some of the more entertaining Whack jobs. The vocal Wacos that used to be on the corners yelling at a trashcan, or the preachers that would yell obsenities at the congregation while quoting the bible.

Remember the bus that had loudspeakers dissing Second Babtist?

My commute requires me exit I-10 and turn south onto Echo/Blalock into the Memorial Villages. The north side of this intersection must be the motherload for panhandlers. There is a group that seem to rotate (guess they reserve spots). The wife was washing her car at the Chevron on the south side and saw one of the more frequent "Cripples" hobble across the parking lot in her wheelchair. After making sure no one was looking, she got out of her wheelchair and carried it the final 100 ft to her car hidden behind the carwash.

She probably lives in the Villages.

[ricco67]

I have found the vast majority of the homless bother noone but the bad ones are so in your face they ruin it for the good ones. If the bad ones would be honest and say they want money for booze, drugs or smokes I would like it better. I know homeless poeple who go abouth their day eating free meals. taking free showers and sleeping in shelters or on the street. The ones I just mentioned have never asked me for money and I never seen them asking for money.

Oh, I agree! My heart truly goes out to some of them, but I've seen SOME of them enough that I know they're nothing but con artists. It is truly rare for me to hand out money.

No, this one looked just like Laverne DeFazio of Laverne & Shirley fame. Maybe she got fired from her job at the beer bottling plant? Had a Brooklyn dialect too! I should have done like Squiggy, and popped her one! Hey Shuyall!

Don't recall seeing her....unless she's an older greying lady that is pushing around a car with a cat at the helm.

The only person I give money on the street to is the Mexican Paleta peddler when I'm walking to and from the Hilton. Yum!

His Popsicles only cost $1, I'd give him more because he works hard. But After I saw a parade of Construction workers and Discover Green people flock to him. I figured he doesn't need my charity.

[Daniepwils]

Homeless or vagrants usually are in downtown during the day. For one, that is when the population of downtown is at its height and two they are not allowed to sleep or sit anywhere due to a city ordinance in the evening. I live and work downtown and am rather fed up with the lot of them. It is always the same ones as well. One time I almost had my orange taken out of my hand at 8AM at Main and McKinney, I had to kick him in the leg to get him away from me. Kind of ballsy to try to attack a 6'3, 200 pound man.

I have never given any money on the street, I have on occasion bought food for someone asking when I was going in the same restaurant (Subway on Dallas). I choose to give to United Way as my charity, giving money to these people is not helping them as the majority of them are using it for things other than food.

[Vertigo58]

If he wanted your food I would have given it to him thats an exception to the rule for me. However, giving $ only add to their misery. Its straight to the liquor store or crack dealer when anyone gives hard cash.

I have on several ocassions just packed bags of used clean clothes/blankets and dropped off under or near the Star of Hope and they just walkover and get it and say thanks. At least I know they might wear or sell it or cover themselves in winter.

As long as these missions and Greyhound Bus station are near downtown they aint a going nowhere else. Even when we used to go to the old Sacred Heart church across from Pierce these homeless woudl sleep on the doorway and the father would have to yell at them to move away. All they do is go across the street and start the aggresive panhandling. It can be an ordeal for children to experience. To them it is a very frightening experience. You need to see the behind Minutemaid Park before & after a ballgame, these guys & women will not take no for an answer when you are walking to the park & leaving. Ok for single dudes to shrug off, but not for families.

[rsb320]

Yesterday, while on a smoke break and was on the sidewalk a very nice man approached me. He said very nicely "Sir, will you be offended if I as you something?" I said No. He told me that he'd just asked a man down the street and his answer was "No, you homeless bastard!" I felt sorry for him, as he was older and sweating really bad. At any rate, I don't take any money down with me unless it's lunch time.

[photolitherland]

I think we all know downtown Houstons biggest flaw and that is the bums. The bums dont really bother me at all, but I know people are afraid of them and they detract business and people from going downtown at night. Just the other day I was taking the train and right by Main Place there was a bum taking a leak on a metro rail bench with his thing just spraying it everywhere and another crazy bum was singing and jumping around on the railroad tracks. They are everywhere on Main Street and the north side, south side, and every side of downtown. My question is, what can be done to rid downtown of their presence? I know you cant just go around putting them in jails but there must be something to do. Chicago, NYC, and so on all have their own bum problems but out of all the cities in America Ive been to Houston has the biggest congregation of weird, abnormal, and disgusting bums who beg for change around every corner. If they werent there, or at least not as prevalent than downtown could really thrive. So, what can be done?

[TexasVines]

sentence them to 30 days of cleaning up trash and cleaning up graffiti for loitering and for every day they refuse to do the work add on 3 days

make it illegal to give them any money and set up stings to catch enablers doing it and put a LARGE fine on it to go towards "bum help" like buying brooms and shovels and scrubbers for them to do the work with

make it illegal to beg and give them 60 days of labor for begging VS the 30 for loitering

give them 90 days of work in addition to the 30 and 60 if they are begging or loitering while drunk

arrest and charge them with theft when caught with a shopping cart they do not have a receipt for or a "title" for (yes I know shopping carts are not titled that is the point)

one way tickets to san farncisco, new orleans, LA, DC, Detroit and NYC

[RedScare]

Wow, no one has ever brought up this interesting topic before.

[MetroMogul]

Wow, no one has ever brought up this interesting topic before.

And it's not just the bums, I also blame those "hip hop thugs" for keeping downtown mired in mediocrity. If we could just keep out all of the bums and "Gangster Grizzilles," we'd have an entertainment/residential/retail center that would rival New York Times Square and the Vegas Strip, COMBINED~!

[editor]

sentence them to 30 days of cleaning up trash and cleaning up graffiti for loitering and for every day they refuse to do the work add on 3 days

Doesn't work. Just like you can't make prisoners pick up trash along the highways anymore. What are you going to do to them? They're already in prison. Keeping a lazy person in prison gives them three meals a day, clothing, an opportunity for hygiene -- all the things they didn't have on the streets.

Moreover, the more obnoxious the vagrant, the more likely the problem is mental. How do you get a mental case to follow directions for street sweeping when he thinks he's on Mars?

make it illegal to give them any money and set up stings to catch enablers doing it and put a LARGE fine on it to go towards "bum help" like buying brooms and shovels and scrubbers for them to do the work with

I don't know about Houston, but in some cities it is already illegal to give to panhandlers. Houston has few enough police officers for major crimes. There would be a hew and cry if they were diverted to busting the soft of heart.

make it illegal to beg and give them 60 days of labor for begging VS the 30 for loitering

give them 90 days of work in addition to the 30 and 60 if they are begging or loitering while drunk

Can't be done. Begging is free speech. The courts have been over this in the past. Also, loitering laws have been routinely struck down in the courts.

arrest and charge them with theft when caught with a shopping cart they do not have a receipt for or a "title" for (yes I know shopping carts are not titled that is the point)

Who's to say they weren't given the cart legally? It's not unheard of for supermarkets to dump their broken carts in vacant lots or otherwise dispose of them so they end up in the hands of the public. iPods are stolen more often than shopping carts. Do you think cops should be allowed to ask you for the receipt for your iPod whenever they want?

one way tickets to san farncisco, new orleans, LA, DC, Detroit and NYC

This has been done on occasion. Denver did it most recently for the Democratic convention. I remember another big one a few years earlier where Atlanta was the recipient. Nothing illegal about it, but it sure does make for some awkward moments at the National Conference of Mayors.

[musicman]

most people just ignore the homeless. the rats are sure getting bad though. in the past two weeks i think i've seen more than I've seen in the past 10 yrs.

[TexasVines]

actually you still can have chain gangs....Joe Arpaio has done it in Phoenix....you just have to have someone in power with the balls to ignore court idiots and the threats of lawsuits and find other ways to get around court ordered stupidity and destruction of society

same with loitering and begging

http://www.dui.com/dui-library/arizona/new...dressed-in-pink

you can carry a portable breath meter and test them for being drunk....then toss them in for that

I would bet a large part of them would suddenly find that they are quite sane if faced with being locked up and forced to work or staying locked up longer

I also doubt most stores give away and or dump shopping carts since they are easy to repair and cost a great deal to start with and they would have scrap value as well and some stores hire people to find them and return them

Houston has a shortage of anything in some peoples eyes and that does not stop police from wasting time on all types of "crimes" as soon as the bums and their enablers are gone and or in jail the cops will have plenty more time for other crimes

lastly who cares what the loser mayor of some failed city says to you at a mayors meeting

[photolitherland]

Are you for real? Some cities give bums one way tickets to other cities just to get rid of them. That sounds like a great idea. Lets send them all to Detroit, that city is already crappy enough and its about to become a lot crappier with the possibility of GM going down. So lets give them all our bums due to the fact that Deadtroit does not have a bright future ahead while Houston does.

The thing that needs to happen is for downtown to get rid of those 2 crappy dollar like stores on Main Street. The one owned by the Indian guys and that other one needs to be shut down. Around those stores is where the bums congregate and its because those stores are quite dirty and cheap. I think with Main Place going in at the corner of that one convenience store that they will clean it up a little and or the bums will migrate to another part of town. Security guards at Main Place hopefully wont be very tolerant of their loitering about.

Edited December 2, 2008 by photolitherland

[memebag]

I think we all know downtown Houstons biggest flaw and that is the bums. The bums dont really bother me at all, but I know people are afraid of them and they detract business and people from going downtown at night. Just the other day I was taking the train and right by Main Place there was a bum taking a leak on a metro rail bench with his thing just spraying it everywhere and another crazy bum was singing and jumping around on the railroad tracks. They are everywhere on Main Street and the north side, south side, and every side of downtown. My question is, what can be done to rid downtown of their presence? I know you cant just go around putting them in jails but there must be something to do. Chicago, NYC, and so on all have their own bum problems but out of all the cities in America Ive been to Houston has the biggest congregation of weird, abnormal, and disgusting bums who beg for change around every corner. If they werent there, or at least not as prevalent than downtown could really thrive. So, what can be done?

You need to get out more. Houston doesn't have a lot of bums, and the ones we do have are boring compared to other big cities. Check out San Francisco if you want to see a lot of really crazy and scary bums.

What can be done? Learn to accept them. They aren't stopping downtown from "thriving".

[infinite_jim]

Let'm live