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I've always wondered about that. I've lived in both Miami and Chicago for extended periods of time and there sure seems to be a lot more homelessness in Chicag

I've always wondered about that. I've lived in both Miami and Chicago for extended periods of time and there sure seems to be a lot more homelessness in Chicago, which is quite counter-intuitive for the very reasons you mention.

tptacek 17y ago
It probably depends on where you live. I see very few homeless near where I live in Chicago (Austin), but I'm sure you'll see many more in Printers Row or Bucktown. Likewise, maybe you just got lucky with where you lived in Miami. I don't blame SF for the size of the homeless population; SF can't help it, it's a small city, which exaggerates the problem. But SF's response to the problem hasn't been a winning one: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/13/MNR110L13S.DTL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/13/... Remember the credit card machines?
erso 17y ago
My experience is that the homeless in Chicago are astoundingly robust. I've seen homeless people on Michigan Avenue when it's in the low teens, cup in hand.
- dschobel 17y ago
  Robust implies a positive connotation, I always saw it as desperation. It's one thing to see someone begging on the street-corner. It's a whole other thing to see them out there wrapped in an old wool blanket when it's below zero. One is fairly innocuous for anyone acclimated to big cities, the other one gets you thinking "holy shit, that person is in mortal danger".
  - jrockway 17y ago
    The sad part is that these people are offered help that is much more substantial than a quarter in a cup, but they don't want to give up their "freedom" to get that help.
yardie 17y ago
I've lived in Miami and New York. My old apartment was across the street from the downtown/overtown shelter. I would say the amount of homeless out and about is dependent on location and possibly weather. New York can get brutally cold and Miami can get insanely hot. During the winter and the summer most of the homeless have settled into a shelter. Miami is only bearable because of air conditioning in offices, cars, and homes. If you've ever had the A/C break in any one of those you'd be miserable in minutes.
deleted 17y ago
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tptacek 17y ago

It probably depends on where you live. I see very few homeless near where I live in Chicago (Austin), but I'm sure you'll see many more in Printers Row or Bucktown. Likewise, maybe you just got lucky with where you lived in Miami. I don't blame SF for the size of the homeless population; SF can't help it, it's a small city, which exaggerates the problem. But SF's response to the problem hasn't been a winning one: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/13/MNR110L13S.DTL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/13/... Remember the credit card machines?

erso 17y ago

My experience is that the homeless in Chicago are astoundingly robust. I've seen homeless people on Michigan Avenue when it's in the low teens, cup in hand.

dschobel 17y ago
Robust implies a positive connotation, I always saw it as desperation. It's one thing to see someone begging on the street-corner. It's a whole other thing to see them out there wrapped in an old wool blanket when it's below zero. One is fairly innocuous for anyone acclimated to big cities, the other one gets you thinking "holy shit, that person is in mortal danger".
- jrockway 17y ago
  The sad part is that these people are offered help that is much more substantial than a quarter in a cup, but they don't want to give up their "freedom" to get that help.

yardie 17y ago

I've lived in Miami and New York. My old apartment was across the street from the downtown/overtown shelter. I would say the amount of homeless out and about is dependent on location and possibly weather. New York can get brutally cold and Miami can get insanely hot. During the winter and the summer most of the homeless have settled into a shelter. Miami is only bearable because of air conditioning in offices, cars, and homes. If you've ever had the A/C break in any one of those you'd be miserable in minutes.

deleted 17y ago

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