The great bum purge of '09?

[mtraininjax]

Don't assume all those people are penniless; I know for a fact that some of the "homeless" in Riverside receive a check on the 3rd of every month.

That is why I always tell them I spent all my money on aliens and beer. No one ever knows how to respond....

[sheclown]

How much does an alien cost nowadays? 

[NotNow]

As far as locking up the mentally ill, doesn't happen.  The mental ward is now the sidewalk. The shelters are full.  And innocent people are being locked up because they have no place to sleep."

No one is locked up for beiing homeless.  It is not against the law to have nowhere to sleep.  In a small area of downtown, those found camping are offered shelter or must move on.  Only those that refuse to do either are arrested.  Others are arrested for various charges, mostly consuming alcohol on a public way (usually a ticket but some argue and thus, choose jail), disorderly intoxication, and minor drug or paraphernalia possession. 

[Ron Mexico]

It used to be that JSO would pick them up and drive them to the county line and tell them to keep on moving.  but somewhere along the line, bums became this noble class of people and they started to be called homeless, disenfranchised, whatever.  i used to volunteer at Sulzbacher and i say used to because there were so many people coming there that were fully capable to working, etc and they would simply complain about the food, showers, other guests, etc. 

Ask St Pete how their "tent city" is working out for them.  Nothing shuts the door on urban core improvement than a hobo invasion.  I see a lot of posts on this site about light rale, downtown development etc.  People move out to the Burbs because there is a perceived level of safety (even though they have the same crimes if not more as we do) and gas is still cheap.

Until you can convince "John & Kate Plus 8" that it is safe to raise a family in the downtown, Riverside/Avondale area...it isn't going to happen.  Bums only serve as a visual reminder to them that they made the right choice when choosing sprawl.

[fsu813]

(ha)

i'm not sure what you mean by "it isn't going to happen", but Riverside/Avondale wouldn't be a good example to use......noone has a problem living there including the "plus 8" crowd.

however, to your larger point.....homeless concentrated in one place is not good, whereever that is. The Southside ceratinly has enough room, enough resources, etc to have shelters / oganizations / work assistance for the homeless.

[Shwaz]

It used to be that JSO would pick them up and drive them to the county line and tell them to keep on moving.

And if they came back the sheriff would take them to jail and turn the fire hose on them. One time it back fired at the station and one vagrant broke free, beat up all the cops, stole a dirt bike and ran up to the hills where he started killing spree that ended with him blowing up the entire town. That vagrant was John Rambo.

[Ron Mexico]

John Rambo!  Thanks for that post.  That was so funny that I laughed out loud.  Thanks for that.

[heights unknown]

Very soon we'll all be bums.......what then?

Heights Unknown

[ChriswUfGator]

Very soon we'll all be bums.......what then?

Heights Unknown

Now there's an optimistic assessment of our economy!

[Bewler]

As long as we're all as awesome of bums as Rambo was then we'll be ok.

Oh man, I can't wait to destroy a Vietnamese village with explosive arrows. This is gonna be great!

[5PointsGuy]

I used to care, but now I just glower at them and growl. My roomate gets suckered all the time. Although, there are guys who actually do what they say. We had a guy come to our house, offer to rake our lawn and bag the leaves and he actually did it. Gave him 20$ because he deserved it. Came back at like 11pm one night drunk as heck lookin for more payment for the job he already did. I think we either gave him 5$ or sent him on his way.

[heights unknown]

It used to be that JSO would pick them up and drive them to the county line and tell them to keep on moving.  but somewhere along the line, bums became this noble class of people and they started to be called homeless, disenfranchised, whatever.  i used to volunteer at Sulzbacher and i say used to because there were so many people coming there that were fully capable to working, etc and they would simply complain about the food, showers, other guests, etc. 

Ask St Pete how their "tent city" is working out for them.  Nothing shuts the door on urban core improvement than a hobo invasion.  I see a lot of posts on this site about light rale, downtown development etc.  People move out to the Burbs because there is a perceived level of safety (even though they have the same crimes if not more as we do) and gas is still cheap.

Until you can convince "John & Kate Plus 8" that it is safe to raise a family in the downtown, Riverside/Avondale area...it isn't going to happen.  Bums only serve as a visual reminder to them that they made the right choice when choosing sprawl.

That's kind of mean don't you think Ron?  Homelessness can happen to anyone at anytime.  I think we should be more humane and offer them a chance to get back to normalcy, then if they refuse that chance, then maybe they deserve a degree of degradation as punishment, but be careful not to judge cause it could be us.

Oh Ron; let me commend you on your outrageous (if that's your picture) 1980's Iolaish hairdo; how in the world did you come up with that and who is your hairdresser?  I hope it's not a cat (smile).

Heights Unknown

[Omarvelous09]

I think they go back and forth between springfield & riverside....there haven't been any in springfield in a few years, but they're everywhere in 5points. The new spot most def. in downtown...makes it hard to be compassionate.