Midtown Homeless Situation

[memebag]

there was one a few weeks ago that went into warren's for a coke and took out a wad of money. business must be good for him.

I knew panhandlers in Austin who had decent homes. They could pull in $50,000 a year and smoke dope all day. That's why I asked if this thread was about the homeless or panhandlers. If you're panhandling and can't afford a home, you're just not applying yourself.

For the record, I never give money to panhandlers.

[ricco67]

I'll give only after I seen them on the streets and figure out what kind of bum they are.

There was a kid in the montrose that I spotted. Pretty much seemed to keep to himself. While pumping for gas, he asked for a buck to buy a soup that station. I gave him a couple of bucks. He immediately went into the store and got himself a cup of soup and a coke.

When I saw him walking (no bumming) heading towards someone to ask for a light or something. I called out and asked if he was hungry and offered to buy him a burger (I was going there anyway).

He accepted and while we ate we simply talked. He was remarkably polite and articulate. turns out he was 15 when (now 17) his parents threw him out when they found out he was gay. He was attending school, living on the streets and showering when he could. Last time I saw him was last may and told me he got accepted to a small college. Haven't seen him since.

[dcdude]

I'll give only after I seen them on the streets and figure out what kind of bum they are.

There was a kid in the montrose that I spotted. Pretty much seemed to keep to himself. While pumping for gas, he asked for a buck to buy a soup that station. I gave him a couple of bucks. He immediately went into the store and got himself a cup of soup and a coke.

When I saw him walking (no bumming) heading towards someone to ask for a light or something. I called out and asked if he was hungry and offered to buy him a burger (I was going there anyway).

He accepted and while we ate we simply talked. He was remarkably polite and articulate. turns out he was 15 when (now 17) his parents threw him out when they found out he was gay. He was attending school, living on the streets and showering when he could. Last time I saw him was last may and told me he got accepted to a small college. Haven't seen him since.

Good for you. I am glad there are still people out there like you. That poor kid also needed to know that there are still people out there like you.

[ricco67]

Good for you. I am glad there are still people out there like you. That poor kid also needed to know that there are still people out there like you.

I wouldn't be so quick for the high praise. I've done more than my share of dismissing quite a few of these kids. Particularly two that I've observed dealing drugs. In fact, I stopped one time so I could watch a few of these kids fight. I had my burger with me so I decided to get some entertainment with my lunch. Sorta' like a poor man's Dinner theater.

[jfre81]

FWIW, I walked down Smith St. in Midtown in front of Specs and the gas station yesterday evening and didn't get hit up for change or smokes. Now, proceeding up to Downtown toward Tranquility Park, it was a different story...

[Subdude]

Open up the old Days Inn just across the Pierce and put them in there. Then they won't be on the streets in Midtown anymore.

As a matter of fact, the old Holiday Inn was taken over and run by the homeless for a while. They even had someone manning the switchboard. Finally the city figured it out and chased them out.

Well.. it goes with my first assertion.. "The ones who don't ask for money can hang out there.. and those who do, can't."

The problem is it's not mutually exclusive.. some hobos will beg.. some, granted, will not.. I don't have a huge problem with those who don't beg, other than them using the street as a personal toilet.. Thats not very world class.. Or maybe it is.. hmm..

I have a huge problem with the enablers.. those who continue to perpetuate the problem by giving handouts.. (Churches, shelters, etc.. ) This will only keep them hanging out and collecting.. Maybe move the shelters and churches who give food away to the suburbs.. Handouts do not solve the problem. But as long as people think they are helping and feeling good about themselves, then they will always be there.

I think I'm an enabler then. When I'm hit up I almost always try to give them a dollar. It's not really my place to judge their motives.

[jfre81]

As a matter of fact, the old Holiday Inn was taken over and run by the homeless for a while. They even had someone manning the switchboard. Finally the city figured it out and chased them out.

Wasn't that at the end of the Heaven On Earth Inn there (with the Maharishi)? It was basically a flophouse then...I still say it's a better place for them than the streets. It's serving no purpose besides being ugly right now.

[editor]

Then he asked us if we could just give him the money and he would walk down the street to a "Soul Food" restaurant and buy lunch.

I guess beggars can be choosers.

[editor]

Wasn't there a cable show that used to feature homeless guy's beating each other up for cash? From what I heard it was a smash success. Won Emmy's

There was a direct-to-DVD series with a name something like "Bumfights." I think it was filmed in Las Vegas. It did not win any awards, and was never seen on television. The people who made it did jail time because of it. They'd pay vagrants $75 each to beat the crap out of each other and then sell the shaky video as "entertainment." Glad they did time.

[TheNiche]

I guess beggars can be choosers.

Damn straight. I had a beggar ask me once for money so she could buy a meal at Mai's. I suggested that she go to Randall's and buy herself several days' worth of food with the same amount of money. But she really just wanted to eat at Mai's.

I knew panhandlers in Austin who had decent homes. They could pull in $50,000 a year and smoke dope all day. That's why I asked if this thread was about the homeless or panhandlers. If you're panhandling and can't afford a home, you're just not applying yourself.

My grandfather once offered a stable job to one of the bums of Austin. Simple work, not too arduous, paid minimum wage. The bum refused because he was already making more than twice that on the streets.

in the 50's my mom lived on nance and she recently told me of hobos going to their house for food. seems word got around where they could get something to eat.

My great grandmother did the same thing during the depression, but on Avenue H in the Central Park subdivision of the East End.

[editor]

My biggest question is always, why can't homeless people use the sidewalk? Why do they always have to walk down the middle of the damn street?

I'm not sure that's a homeless problem. I've seen that from Katy to Sugar Land to Cinco Ranch. I think it's a Texas thing.

[musicman]

I'm not sure that's a homeless problem. I've seen that from Katy to Sugar Land to Cinco Ranch. I think it's a Texas thing.

most of the time, walking the shortest path takes less effort.

[editor]

Maybe a pan-handling law should be passed, and stick them in jail.. that'll solve them being homeless..

Can't. The Supreme Court has already ruled that panhandling is free speech and can't be regulated by cities.

Or maybe arrested for tax evasion since they get "income" but pay no taxes on it..

Interesting, but I don't think it would work. The police can't decide if you've paid your taxes or not just by looking at you; you'd have to be audited by the I.R.S. But how do they audit someone with no address who can just walk away or hitchhike to another town and vanish whenever they want?

None of this will happen, and eventually things will be as bad as San Fran and maybe there will be another mass exodus to the bubs again because the hobos have taken over midtown/downtown once again..

There are certain people who for one reason or another choose to live their lives "off the grid" so to speak. Often these are lazy people. Lazy people gravitate to warmer climates, and many end up in Houston.

Of course, there are many vagrants who aren't lazy, they're crazy or addicted or something else. These people tend to stay where they are. Listening to a show on APRN recently I was surprised to learn that even in medium and small towns in Alaska there are homeless people. I saw one dumpster diving behind a restaurant in a town with a population of less than 1,000 in North Dakota once.

One homeless person isn't a problem. Maybe not even two. But when they come in flocks and ordinary hard-working people are constantly being asked for handouts it gets frustrating. My latest tactic is to tell them in perfect English, "I don't speak English." Mostly this just confuses them long enough for me to go on my way without being followed.

[Mr. Chenevert]

I can't. What do the dots show?

Why can't your fiance tolerate people asking her for money? And, given that she can't, why does she choose to live in midtown?

If you were a female, would you like strangers coming up to you? Its a matter of personal safety. She doesnt feel safe. They have to be pretty darn close to you to beg for money. How does she know thats all they want?

I choose to live in Midtown, while she lives in River Oaks. We wont be living in Midtown after we get married.

[memebag]

If you were a female, would you like strangers coming up to you? Its a matter of personal safety. She doesnt feel safe. They have to be pretty darn close to you to beg for money. How does she know thats all they want?

I choose to live in Midtown, while she lives in River Oaks. We wont be living in Midtown after we get married.

I still want to know about the dots.

If your fiance doesn't feel safe when people get close to her, it sounds like she either needs to do something to feel more safe (like learn self defense, carry a gun, look scarier than anyone she meets) or avoid places where people might get close. Either way, it doesn't sound like homelessness is the real issue.

[editor]

I still want to know about the dots.

If your fiance doesn't feel safe when people get close to her, it sounds like she either needs to do something to feel more safe (like learn self defense, carry a gun, look scarier than anyone she meets) or avoid places where people might get close. Either way, it doesn't sound like homelessness is the real issue.

I can understand how his fiancee feels, even if you can't wrap your brain around it.

Perhaps she's very petite. Perhaps she's been attacked in the past. Perhaps a hundred other things. There's no point in you second-guessing what the woman feels.

Heck, I'm two tons of fun coming down the street and even I get defensive when a vagrant approaches me. The fact that you don't says more about you than it does about her. Now maybe back off and stop antagonizing the Cheneverts.

[Mr. Chenevert]

I still want to know about the dots.

If your fiance doesn't feel safe when people get close to her, it sounds like she either needs to do something to feel more safe (like learn self defense, carry a gun, look scarier than anyone she meets) or avoid places where people might get close. Either way, it doesn't sound like homelessness is the real issue.

Thanks for the advice Meme...

Ill make sure she starts packing heat and see's a psychiatrist immediately.

Thank goodness for this forum... I could have married a true nutjob!

Edited February 28, 2008 by Mr. Chenevert

[memebag]

Thanks for the advice Meme...

Ill make sure she starts packing heat and see's a psychiatrist immediately.

Thank goodness for this forum... I could have married a true nutjob!

I still want to know about the dots and the $15 bed.

[Subdude]

Wasn't that at the end of the Heaven On Earth Inn there (with the Maharishi)? It was basically a flophouse then...I still say it's a better place for them than the streets. It's serving no purpose besides being ugly right now.

Precisely.

It is interesting that people frequently toss out little anecdotes implying that the homeless are secretly wealthy. Of course that is very rare, but I suppose it is a comforting belief in way for some people. Recently I read a book about pre-Victorian England, and it discussed how even then the wealthy-beggar story was prevalent, and was used as a justification for harsh treatment, including jailing, of beggars.

[memebag]

It is interesting that people frequently toss out little anecdotes implying that the homeless are secretly wealthy.

Did that happen in this thread? I said I new panhandlers who made $50k per year. They weren't homeless, and they weren't wealthy.

[Zippy]

Can't. The Supreme Court has already ruled that panhandling is free speech and can't be regulated by cities.

Did that overturn Dallas' anti-pan handling law? I thought it worked well at least keeping beggars off the corners..

Interesting, but I don't think it would work. The police can't decide if you've paid your taxes or not just by looking at you; you'd have to be audited by the I.R.S. But how do they audit someone with no address who can just walk away or hitchhike to another town and vanish whenever they want?

Yeah.. I know.. I was sort of being sarcastic..

One homeless person isn't a problem. Maybe not even two. But when they come in flocks and ordinary hard-working people are constantly being asked for handouts it gets frustrating. My latest tactic is to tell them in perfect English, "I don't speak English." Mostly this just confuses them long enough for me to go on my way without being followed.

Good idea!

[VicMan]

What the COH could do is air a very catchy, popular, clever anti-homeless ad mixing footage of *mentally competent* homeless people giving their tactics away to pictures of liquor.

The end message: "Do not give any handouts to them."

Edited February 28, 2008 by VicMan

[houstonmacbro]

I do think that panhandling is different from homeless, although I guess one begets the other. I tend to rarely give money out on the streets. First off, it's dangerous. Secondly, I tend to contribute to a problem. Thirdly, I never really know if the money goes to helping them buy food or other needed items, drugs or drink (I always suspect the latter).

[jayshoota]

Did that overturn Dallas' anti-pan handling law? I thought it worked well at least keeping beggars off the corners..

No, it is still in place and seems to be working. Knowbody has attempted to challange it that I know of.

[musicman]

No, it is still in place and seems to be working. Knowbody has attempted to challange it that I know of.

i believe the editor is correct. many newspapers have challenged the law on the basis of free speech and have been successful Edited February 29, 2008 by musicman

[Subdude]

Just passing panhandling ordnances won't necessarily do much, since it is safe to assume that enforcement isn't going to be high on the city's list of priorities. It's nice to dream about easy solutions, but homelessness won't go away by passing laws or simply wishing real hard. Any long-term solution would likely mean paying higher taxes for shelters, support services, and enforcement of panhandling laws. Until the public is willing to empty their pockets a little more, the problem isn't going to vanish.

[musicman]

Just passing panhandling ordnances won't necessarily do much

tell that to bill blight

[Subdude]

tell that to bill blight

Who is Bill Blight?

[musicman]

Who is Bill Blight?

da mayor who doesn't enforce the laws he passes

[RedScare]

In honor of this thread, I just gave an entire buck to two different homeless guys downtown. Also gave the last half of my cigarette to one of them. He really appreciated that.