3 ms·

I wonder if homeless people take advantage of the cafe? What do they do about that?

lionhearted 15y ago
The first time I saw "pay what you want" at a cafe was in Salt Lake City, UT. It was right next to the Utah College of Massage Therapy in an upper-middle class neighborhood. I went in there a few times. Most people actually overpaid a little bit, throwing in like a $10 when they got a coffee, main course, and a snack (this was 10 years ago, would've cost maybe $7 to $8 at the time normally). Some people did take a meal and only put in $1 or whatever, but not too many and that's probably more than compensated by people who overpay a little. The key is probably where your location is.
- juiceandjuice 15y ago
  Downtown, around 300 E and South Temple? That's not really upper middle class per se, it's really just mixed, but it can seem like that. I lived two blocks away in a one bedroom apartment which rented for $400/mo. On the flip side, I know the apartments across the street are one or two bedroom and rent for about $1000+/mo. Just saying, if it's where I think it is, that's a fairly mixed neighborhood, and about 3 more blocks to the north/northwest you start getting into Rose Park. It's kind of like calling the Mission in SF upper middle class... I mean it is, but it's not.
erikpukinskis 15y ago
It's partly an effort to feed the needy, so homeless people who eat there aren't taking advantage, they're helping fulfill the mission.
briandon 15y ago
I wondered about this too. It wouldn't take many bedraggled homeless people to drive out the paying-near-or-above-retail customers, so my guess is that there aren't very many homeless and/or extremely visibly poor people in Clayton (or at least the neighborhood where the Panera store in the article is located). WP says (in the demographics section of the article on Clayton, Mo) that Clayton "In the St. Louis region, Clayton is well known for housing a wealthy and educated young professional, often dual-income population" and "About 5.0% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton,_Missouri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton,_Missouri Also, I think that having a staff member positioned at the door explaining the payment procedure ("cheery employee Terri Barr greets everyone at the door and spells it out") and having employees watching you while you pay might deter long-term poor and homeless people from even stepping inside.

The first time I saw "pay what you want" at a cafe was in Salt Lake City, UT. It was right next to the Utah College of Massage Therapy in an upper-middle class neighborhood. I went in there a few times. Most people actually overpaid a little bit, throwing in like a $10 when they got a coffee, main course, and a snack (this was 10 years ago, would've cost maybe $7 to $8 at the time normally). Some people did take a meal and only put in $1 or whatever, but not too many and that's probably more than compensated by people who overpay a little. The key is probably where your location is.

juiceandjuice 15y ago
Downtown, around 300 E and South Temple? That's not really upper middle class per se, it's really just mixed, but it can seem like that. I lived two blocks away in a one bedroom apartment which rented for $400/mo. On the flip side, I know the apartments across the street are one or two bedroom and rent for about $1000+/mo. Just saying, if it's where I think it is, that's a fairly mixed neighborhood, and about 3 more blocks to the north/northwest you start getting into Rose Park. It's kind of like calling the Mission in SF upper middle class... I mean it is, but it's not.

erikpukinskis 15y ago

It's partly an effort to feed the needy, so homeless people who eat there aren't taking advantage, they're helping fulfill the mission.

briandon 15y ago

I wondered about this too. It wouldn't take many bedraggled homeless people to drive out the paying-near-or-above-retail customers, so my guess is that there aren't very many homeless and/or extremely visibly poor people in Clayton (or at least the neighborhood where the Panera store in the article is located). WP says (in the demographics section of the article on Clayton, Mo) that Clayton "In the St. Louis region, Clayton is well known for housing a wealthy and educated young professional, often dual-income population" and "About 5.0% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton,_Missouri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton,_Missouri Also, I think that having a staff member positioned at the door explaining the payment procedure ("cheery employee Terri Barr greets everyone at the door and spells it out") and having employees watching you while you pay might deter long-term poor and homeless people from even stepping inside.