Does Pittsburgh have unusually few panhandlers? (McKeesport, Liberty: neighborhood, college, living)

[eschaton]

I was visiting my mother the other week. She lives in a fairly small (around 30,000 people) college town in Massachusetts. In the few days I was there I was asked for money by panhandlers more than in the past year I've lived in Pittsburgh.

I mean, it does happen that I'm asked for money, especially downtown. But it usually seems to be random people walking around, not someone who's set up shop sitting down on the street and begging. It used to semi-frequently happen on the bus, but doesn't seem to any longer. Usually, it seems like the panhandlers in Pittsburgh are clearly not homeless (fairly well dressed, look like they've bathed recently), whereas the actual homeless people do not ask for money.

Anyway, I would presume we have worse laws regarding panhandling here. But I'm curious what other people thought.

[Burghgirl17]

From an unscientific viewpoint, I think the number of panhandlers has decreased greatly in recent years. There's only one "regular" that I can think of having encountered in the parts of downtown that I work in/frequent. A very polite woman who is usually somewhere on Fourth Avenue. Never given her a dime, but she is always very gracious and polite.

There's often someone on the ramp from Stanwix onto the Parkway West/Fort Pitt Bridge.

[Moby Hick]

I think it has dropped in the past few years also, possibly because I'm not downtown as much. Oakland and Squirrel Hill have their regulars and I don't really see many others. I'd forgotten how bad it could be until I took recent trip to Philly.

[fleetiebelle]

I guess it's because of the weather, but I was shocked at the number of panhandlers in Portland and San Francisco. There's some in Florida, but there doesn't seem to be the same culture about it as out west.

[grep]

I'd say there are very few "street types" of all bands here: panhandlers, bums, hobos, buskers... there does seem to be a small population of crusties in the SS flats and around the Shur Save in Bloomfield though.

[Hopes]

There's a larger homeless population out West too. We definitely have less panhandlers in Pittsburgh. I suspect our low cost of living prevents many from becoming homeless. Perhaps we have better social services for the mentally ill here than there. Perhaps it's not lucrative here because Pittsburghers are so darn frugal. I won't give to panhandlers.

Years ago, I saw a guy standing with a sign "will work for food" at the parking lot entrance of the shopping center in Cranberry. He had kids with him! It's not the only time I've seen people exploit their children like this, but it was the first time I saw it. I went to the grocery store and bought all WIC approved type food. I dropped the bags off when I was leaving. He glared at me. He clearly did NOT want food. I doubt he wanted work. That's the LAST TIME I ever gave anything to beggers aside from bus fare to someone once or twice a year.

[UKyank]

There's a lady in my neighborhood that's been needing $1 to get the bus to McKeesport for years.

The few regular panhandlers we have seem to have terrible memories & will approach you multiple times a day, everyday with no hint of recognition.

[SteelCityRising]

I can think of a few "regulars". There's always some "crusty"-type younger person (or two or three) panhandling at the base of the Birmingham Bridge along East Carson Street in the South Side Flats, usually holding a handmade cardboard sign, and sometimes with a dog. There's also an older amputee who usually hangs out along Forbes Avenue in Oakland near McDonald's. I can also think of a man that sits on the steps of LuLu's Noodles on South Craig Street in Central Oakland (yes, Jay, I do love the "blue sign squad") who always yells "a little help?" at passersby. There's also a regular on Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill whom I used to give an occasional free drink to (I'm allowed a couple of free drinks per shift, especially in summer) until he started to expect and demand them. There's also a short older woman who likes to panhandle around the Village at East Side Shopping Center entrance. I've also been panhandled on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill near Little's Shoes.

With that being said while I just rattled off a small number of the "regular" panhandlers I usually come across I tend to agree we have fewer here than in many other cities I've been to. I've given money to some in the past, but the one in East Liberty really turned me off the one day when she immediately said "got any more?" It seems as if our panhandlers are more polite yet simultaneously more annoying.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by UKyank

There's a lady in my neighborhood that's been needing $1 to get the bus to McKeesport for years.

There used to be a mildly-retarded woman on the 91 who would ask for "four quarters" to everyone. Literally, she would get on the bus and go up and down each row, asking each person in turn for money.

Haven't seen her in awhile though. Wonder if she got gentrified out.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Wonder if she got gentrified out.

Sssshh...I'm next!