Denver Has a Lot of Homeless People

[guyatwork37]

The homeless problem is not too bad here. Around 16th St? Well yeah, it's a tourist area with high foot traffic and a desirable place for panhandling. Also, as another mentioned, it's a close proximity to homeless shelters. But it's not as bad as other metro area tourist spots (e.g. Santa Monica, downtown SF, downtown Portland, etc.)

[Good Red Road]

Originally Posted by guyatwork37

The homeless problem is not too bad here. Around 16th St? Well yeah, it's a tourist area with high foot traffic and a desirable place for panhandling. Also, as another mentioned, it's a close proximity to homeless shelters. But it's not as bad as other metro area tourist spots (e.g. Santa Monica, downtown SF, downtown Portland, etc.)

This.
The homeless population here only seems bad to folks who don't get around very much.
Most major cities with moderate climates will have higher numbers than Denver.

[Brianmedia]

I disagree that Denver has a bad homeless problem, when compared against other cities i've lived in. Chicago, Sacramento, San Francisco, Honolulu are all worse

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by Brianmedia

I disagree, when compared against other cities i've lived in. Chicago, Sacramento, San Francisco, Honolulu.

I don't know how recently you've been to Honolulu, but the situation is really bad there. Homeless people camping out all over sidewalks in Waikiki and huge tent cities in the parks. There was an article earlier this year reporting that there are 5,000 homeless people in Honolulu, and the governor declared a state of emergency.

[Brianmedia]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

I don't know how recently you've been to Honolulu, but the situation is really bad there. Homeless people camping out all over sidewalks in Waikiki and huge tent cities in the parks. There was an article earlier this year reporting that there are 5,000 homeless people in Honolulu, and the governor declared a state of emergency.

Not sure you read my comment in the right context, so i updated it.

I totally was agreeing with you.

[Enomar]

Being a tourist, I hung out in LODO and 16th St. Mall. The homeless were polite and I never felt pressured or threatened, unlike in my city, where the homeless are aggressive.
However, I saw quite a few elsewhere in the city, and they were occupying small parks and green space.
Homelessness is depressing and sad.

[jHolman91]

Ive never had issues with the homeless down there other than the one tweeker that growled at me from an ally way. San Francisco on the other hand is a different story, The homeless there will actually get into a fight with you just for ignoring them.

[guyatwork37]

Originally Posted by Enomar

Being a tourist, I hung out in LODO and 16th St. Mall. The homeless were polite and I never felt pressured or threatened, unlike in my city, where the homeless are aggressive.
However, I saw quite a few elsewhere in the city, and they were occupying small parks and green space.
Homelessness is depressing and sad.

I agree with that. No homeless person threatened me with a knife on the street corner in Denver as they did in LA.

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by Enomar

Homelessness is depressing and sad.

or perhaps the impact to some individuals
could be 'uplifting and happy'


depends on why the individual ended up homeless...

[JrzDefector]

Some reasons for homelessness in the Denver area that I can see:

-Growing cost of housing and wages not keeping up.

-Denver is the most isolated major city in the country - people get here intending to make a new start and can't and end up getting stuck. Some people are passing through on their way to somewhere else and get stuck here when their money runs out or their car breaks down. I'm from New Jersey - if you're homeless there and you need to go elsewhere, you can get from NYC to DC for 50 bucks. You can travel more easily.

-As others have said, services are clustered near a lot of the tourist areas.

-There are people who come here to get into the pot industry and don't realize that the standards are pretty high for getting hired - it's pretty darn competitive to get those jobs.