Pittsburgh Vagrancy Law (Oakland: top, town, downtown)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

You mean gutter punks? Crusties: a hardened existence on the road.

Fascinating. Thank you for posting that article.

Originally Posted by creepsinc

Actually, most of the ones I've known had horrible family lives and ran away from home as teenagers.

Originally Posted by UKyank

Even if that's true for some of them, they should then be excluded from trying to better themselves & I should have to assist in supporting them? These are able bodied, mentally competent 20 somethings we are talking about.

Consider specifics given in the article about one such person:

Spaz said he was born in Toronto to parents from Pittsburgh who were on the run from the law. He said his father is in prison for bank robbery, and he lived with his junkie mother in their car until she abandoned him around the age of 12.

He scoffs at those who say they willingly choose the nomadic, crustie lifestyle.

"I literally have no one. I have no options and nowhere to go. It's a pretty harrowing existence. I do what I have to, to survive. I'm not lazy. I play music, I sell things."

If he can scrape enough money together, he tries to find a cheap hotel room.

"I like taking showers. I like sleeping inside."

Read more: Crusties: a hardened existence on the road

Just how exactly do you propose he go about starting to better himself?

You don't have to assist in supporting them, just walk the other way. You just don't like that they're in your face.

You're supporting many more people via tax dollars who go the traditional route of living off social services.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by steindle

Crusties Are Back in Tompkins Square Park - New York News - Runnin' Scared

Those ones even have a blog posting: Crustypunks

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Consider specifics given in the article about one such person:


Just how exactly do you propose he go about starting to better himself?

You don't have to assist in supporting them, just walk the other way. You just don't like that they're in your face.

You're supporting many more people via tax dollars who go the traditional route of living off social services.

First the specifics of one person doesnt describe all.... but regardless how is choosing to live in filth on the street better then seeking social services? You are a competant 20 something - get some help & get back on your feet and stop wasting your life.
And yes, my tax dollars are being spent on them through the time the police have to deal with their criminal activities (assaults, robberies, substance use, etc), the judicial system adjudicating them or issuing warrents when they fail to show, or the ems/ambulance/hospital services they use when they are passed out, drugged out of their minds laying on carson street.

And you're right, I don't like that they're in my face, should I? I even got into a physical altercation with one of them fairly recently after he tried to run off with my g/f's purse, and I daily have to deal with their smart remarks and general rudeness since I am blessed with at least 20-30 of them using my street as their daily hangout spot; sorry if I am a horrible person for looking at homessless persons with mental problems or somone temporarily down on their luck who is trying to get out of it as a sad case which I try to help but when I can and see these clearly competent individuals as worthless human beings.

I dont see any of the people on here offering to take them into their homes, provide them with meals, and offering them a hot shower.

Sorry if I don't want to see Pittsburgh be a preferred stop for these travellers as they contribute absolutely nothing and give a bad image as well as taking away local money & services that could be used to help actual homeless people with mental problems which are not their fault.

[groar]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I just looked at the photo....the size of their backpacks, reminds me more of Europeans trying to travel through all of Southeast Asia, more than anything!

I've never seen an Oregon/Washington/California homeless 20-something do the carry a super large backpack type of thing.

I'm gonna guess those are young european backpackers looking for budget hostels in Greenwhich Village NYC!

crusties certainly pass through and live in nyc and have since forever. the lower east side has tons of long-established squats where they can stay. in fact if you read that article, even if those are just hippie backpackers, it's a follow up to a fairly recent post asking where all the crusties have *gone*.

they're also not a new phenomenon here - i've lived here for 11 years (i moved here from new york) and we've had summers where there were more or less crusties on and off since then. most of the time i've lived here (a bit less lately), pittsburgh has had a pretty well known punk scene for that crowd and has been known as a place with cheap rent and punk houses (ie big houses inhabited by a bunch of younger people) that will let people crash. not so many squats (not much point when it's so cheap to rent a place), but there have been a few over the years. i do agree that being the kind of place that attracts traveler kids is not a bad thing overall even if the travellers themselves are annoying.

i'm speaking as someone who has hung out with crusties (in tompkins square park no less), goes to shows that they go to, promoted shows at a squat in nyc for quite some time, etc etc. yes, the west coast is an area where a lot of crusties set up long(ish) term residence because of the climate and culture, but they are *travellers*. they go all over the place and they are from all over the place. nyc and philly, minneapolis and pgh are pretty common summer spots, austin, gainesville and flagstaff az in the winter as well as the northern west coast year round.

and yeah a lot of them do carry big backpacks with all of their worldly possessions in them. sometimes they have a place to stash them.

some of them are even from europe (which has a huuuuuge traveler/squat culture) but that doesn't make them not crusties!

[UserNameCity]

posting late to this thread but for those that think it's "cool" for crusties to live in pgh, i would disagree. i walk at night with my dog & have encountered crusties with their dog. one guy was so drunk, he could barely walk & he had a dog on a leash! the dog was getting very close to my dog (we were passing on the 6th street bridge) & it's only luck that both dogs were friendly with each other; otherwise it could've been a horrible situation involving a dog fight. also, the filth on them (from head to toe) is not just unappealing but when you have to practically brush up against them on a crowded sidewalk (especially those narrow sidewalks on the downtown bridges) it's not sanitary. do they have head lice? scabies? who knows. the issue that i have is that they seem very able-bodied & thus could work for a living, which would afford them to take showers & follow sanitary personal hygiene (again, i'm not referring to mentally ill or physically disadvantaged homeless who cannot help their situation)

Originally Posted by UKyank

First the specifics of one person doesnt describe all.... but regardless how is choosing to live in filth on the street better then seeking social services? You are a competant 20 something - get some help & get back on your feet and stop wasting your life.
And yes, my tax dollars are being spent on them through the time the police have to deal with their criminal activities (assaults, robberies, substance use, etc), the judicial system adjudicating them or issuing warrents when they fail to show, or the ems/ambulance/hospital services they use when they are passed out, drugged out of their minds laying on carson street.

And you're right, I don't like that they're in my face, should I? I even got into a physical altercation with one of them fairly recently after he tried to run off with my g/f's purse, and I daily have to deal with their smart remarks and general rudeness since I am blessed with at least 20-30 of them using my street as their daily hangout spot; sorry if I am a horrible person for looking at homessless persons with mental problems or somone temporarily down on their luck who is trying to get out of it as a sad case which I try to help but when I can and see these clearly competent individuals as worthless human beings.

I dont see any of the people on here offering to take them into their homes, provide them with meals, and offering them a hot shower.

Sorry if I don't want to see Pittsburgh be a preferred stop for these travellers as they contribute absolutely nothing and give a bad image as well as taking away local money & services that could be used to help actual homeless people with mental problems which are not their fault.

[safak]

i realize this was a recently revived old thread but , felt the need to post.

first off, 2 dogs passing each other shouldn't be seen as a horrible situation potentially involving a dog fight, what the hell?

as far as working for a living, i see this as trending downward.
people don't even pay their own medical builds, funerals, hell even totally unnecessary (if you can't afford it) trips to virginia beach for a cheerleading competition! you just start a go-fund-me and cry on facebook

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of culture becomes more popular as America heads further towards decline.

Or as idealistic, irrational, lazy people think they can live like college freshmen forever.

[UserNameCity]

we were going to pass each other ("WERE" being the operative word)...& it would've been fine to simply "pass" w both dogs UNDER CONTROL on a leash. that wasn't the case. the guy was in a stupor. not sure if it was alcohol or drugs but it was something bc he was not responding 2 my comments of "i'll allow u 2 pass us so that the dogs can keep their distance as i wait here" (i was literally trying to get between the dogs because i could see where this was going). the guy's gait was stumbling around ... no awareness of what was going on & not even registering in his brain that he was being addressed...& the moron let his dog come right up CLOSE to my dog so there potentially could've been a dog fight if one of the dogs had been so inclined. my dog is not inclined to initiate any attack, but many dogs (probably most??) if ATTACKED 1st would fight back, even if it's a tiny teacup poodle (my dog is not a teacup & would've ripped apart the crustie's dog had he been attacked, not 2 mention that in a dog fight, people can get bitten trying 2 break it up). luckily both dogs were cool but if 1 hadn't been & a fight broke out, then there would've been NO WHERE to go. have u walked on the 6th street bridge sidewalk? it's not just narrow, but u can't even jump over to the street (if u wanted to) bc of a huge barrier between the street & sidewalk (& even if u could, how would u break up the dog fight 1st & then carry a fighting dog over a high barrier?). the entire situation POTENTIALLY could've been very dangerous had a dog fight erupted.

my point is that this imbecile was NOT IN CONTROL OF HIMSELF *AND* HIS DOG. i wouldn't blame the dog but i sure as hell would blame that a-hole if a fight had erupted.

Originally Posted by safak

i realize this was a recently revived old thread but , felt the need to post.

first off, 2 dogs passing each other shouldn't be seen as a horrible situation potentially involving a dog fight, what the hell?

as far as working for a living, i see this as trending downward.
people don't even pay their own medical builds, funerals, hell even totally unnecessary (if you can't afford it) trips to virginia beach for a cheerleading competition! you just start a go-fund-me and cry on facebook

[Yac]

As the thread continues it would be great if you all calmed down a bit, I sense this isn't going in the right direction..but you can still change that
Yac.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by ctoocheck

Any type of panhandling is illegal in Pittsburgh, I believe, isn't it?

Have you been to Oakland or a sporting event lately? The homeless problem will only get worse as Peduto turns a blind eye and dumps them off on the Northside.