I Was Shocked At The Number Of Homeless (Denver, Boulder: live in, law)

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

Yeah, I remember walking by the Greyhound bus station on 18th St. one day and a twentyish year old guy asked me where the shelter was located. He just got off a bus. Seemed like a normal guy and it seemed strange to me, but I told him where to go. He never asked for money or anything, just how to find the shelter. He apparently had no job and just decided Denver was the place for him. I'm sure the legal weed has some draw. I felt bad for the guy. I couldn't imagine just getting on a bus and landing somewhere without a job or place to live.

Wow, you got a lot of information out of a guy who only asked you where the shelter was. How do you even know if he was homeless? How do you know he didn't have a job? How do you know he came here for the weed?

[SQL]

Believe it or not, it's worse here than in Detroit. I think it's a result of Denver being one of the only major cities in the region for hundreds of miles. We attract vagrants from the neighboring fly over states who tend to have big drug use problems.

[rushhournewb]

1. Which city in the US of A has the most homeless?

2. Which city is judged, by the homeless, to be the most solicitous to the homeless?

3. Could it be the laid back attitude of the homeless here is due to the MJ legalization? Not judging, just asking. (you know the old saying per The Furry Freak Brothers: "Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"

4. If a homeless person from anywhere in the US of A were to decide on the best move for him/her to make, would Denver make the top 5 list and why.

5. Does Denver do more or less "for" it's homeless than other cities?

6. How worried should us Denver residents be about the homeless? Do other cities worry more or less than Denver?

[Dport7674]

Denver is a major hub for greyhound. Some make it that far and decide to stay.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by headingtoDenver

Wow, you got a lot of information out of a guy who only asked you where the shelter was. How do you even know if he was homeless? How do you know he didn't have a job? How do you know he came here for the weed?

I think the fact that the guy asked where a shelter was may have been a hint that he may have been homeless.

[DenverNative76]

Originally Posted by phlinak

Why do you think that is?


I can understand Portland and Seattle because their climates are more bearable but Denver???

Because right now Colorado and Denver, in particular, is the happening place to be. Everyone wants here for all it "has to offer." If and when, another major city becomes the happening place, you'll see the same negative effects on that city as we are experiencing here.

[ajr1995]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

Do the areas in southern Denver (highlands ranch, littleton, parker, castle rock) have as many homeless or are they more in the inner city areas?

The homeless and transients typically stick to central Denver but I've seen homeless people sitting on the freeway off ramp in wheat ridge and Lakewood quite often.

[SQL]

Originally Posted by ajr1995

The homeless and transients typically stick to central Denver but I've seen homeless people sitting on the freeway off ramp in wheat ridge and Lakewood quite often.

I've seen them off the exit on I-25 and Belleview as well. As a matter of fact, I see them at most major crossroads and off ramps. They know no bounds.

[Gorges]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

Do the areas in southern Denver (highlands ranch, littleton, parker, castle rock) have as many homeless or are they more in the inner city areas?

I've seen some in the Safeway shopping center parking lot in Parker (Mainstreet & Parker Rd), as well as the McDonalds/Good Will parking lot across the street, but only a few times.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

Do the areas in southern Denver (highlands ranch, littleton, parker, castle rock) have as many homeless or are they more in the inner city areas?

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Most of the transients hang around Civic Center Park, the Cherry Creek Trail, and the 16th Street Mall.

Originally Posted by headingtoDenver

I don't think I've ever seen a homeless person here in Castle Rock. Of course that doesn't mean they don't exist, it just means I haven't seen any, or maybe I did and I just didn't know they were homeless. Not all homeless hang out with cardboard signs asking for money I guess.

The homelessness in the southern suburbs is more of a "hidden" homelessness. Most of the homeless in Douglas and Arapahoe Counties are families or people who are living in cars or couch surfing at friends' or relatives' houses. There are severe weather shelters in Jeffco where my wife volunteers her time, but Arapahoe and Douglas have been asking them to expand their programs to their counties for a couple of years. Most of the shelters are run through churches, but they require county government approval because they are not permanent shelters, and they need churches willing to house and feed people for up to a week at a time.

Douglas County has just started a Winter Shelter program, but it is for single women and women with children only. I don't think there is a place for men in the county.